Manchester City Women will look to put the disappointment of their Champions League exit behind them as they travel to Brighton in the WSL on Sunday afternoon. The Blues saw Chelsea overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit as they beat City 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to book a semi-final clash with Barcelona, leaving the Blues with just he FA Cup to play for this season where, ironically, they could face Chelsea again.
They face a Brighton side that is ten points behind City in fifth place and a good winning run, coupled with a disastrous spell for City in their final five games, could see the Seagulls go past the Blues and ensure their highest ever WSL finish.
City boss Nick Cushing will be eager to avoid that scenario and will look for a response from his side following three defeats from four matches against Chelsea.
Brighton are in a dismal run of form, having won one and lost three of their last five matches. However, the Seagulls are unbeaten at home this season, having won and drawn four of their eight games so far and they will be hopeful of taking something from the Blues on Sunday.
City have won three of their last five WSL matches, but have failed to win any of their last two. A 2-1 defeat to Chelsea was preceded by a 1-1 draw at West Ham, there the Blues conceded a last-minute equaliser and Cushing will be eager for City to tighten up at the back this time.
Team News
Brighton have confirmed they will definitely be with the injured Jorelyn Carabali and there are doubts on the fitness of former Blue Vicky Losada, Jelena Cankovic, Bruna Vilamala and Bex Raynor. Kiko Seike and Marit Auee may return to the starting line-up after coming off the bench last weekend.
City will again be without Bunny Shaw, Rebecca Knaak, Aoba Fujino, Risa Shimizu, Ayaka Yamashita, and they are joined by Laura Blindkilde-Brown. Lauren Hemp is also still out and whether she returns before the end of the season remains to be seen. Captain Alex Greenwood is making progress but it’s still too early for her to make a comeback.
Prediction
City will still be smarting from their epic encounters with Chelsea but I would imagine Nick Cushing will get them motivated for Sunday and come back north with the points.
Brighton 1-3 City