WSL preview: Albion host Manchester City

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Mikey Harris's team ran out winners against Bristol City in their last WSL match.

Bruce Talbot

2024-03-16T16:00:00Z

Maria Thorisdottir joined Albion in the summer after leaving Manchester United.

Albion will bid to complete their first WSL double of the season on Sunday when they take on title-chasing Manchester City at the Broadfield Stadium, kick off 12.30pm. The match is live on BBC2.

View from the coach

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Sunday could see a shoot-out between two of the top goalscorers in the WSL this season. Albion’s Elisabeth Terland has netted 11 times in the league while City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has 15 to her name, with Lauren James of Chelsea on 12.

Shaw, 27, was born in Jamaica and is the youngest of 13 brothers and sisters. After playing college football in the United States she had two years in France with Bordeaux prior to joining City in 2022 and in her first season was top scorer with 16 goals, including four in a 7-2 win over Albion.

She followed that with 31 goals in 30 matches last season and has been in prolific form again during the current campaign, including three hat-tricks. She has won more than 40 Jamaica caps after making her international debut at the age of 14.

Stats and facts

Albion have won just one of their ten WSL meetings with Manchester City (D1 L8) but that sole victory did come the last time the pair met, winning 1-0 earlier this season at the Joie Stadium.

City have won all four of their away games against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League by an aggregate score of 21-2, scoring 6+ goals in three of those matches.

Albion have won just one of their last 10 home games in the Women’s Super League (D2 L7), a 3-2 win against Bristol City in January.

City have won each of their last four away games in the WSL, keeping a clean sheet in the last two; the Cityzens haven’t won three in a row without conceding on the road in the league since May 2022.

Albion won 7-3 last time out in the WSL against Bristol City, their most goals ever scored in a game in the competition and more than they scored across their nine league games prior combined (6 goals).

City have won each of their nine WSL games since losing back-to-back league games in November; only once before has a team won 10+ straight in the same Women’s Super League campaign, with the Cityzens themselves doing so in 2020-21 (12 in a row).

Only Joe Montemurro (75.7%) and Jonas Eidevall (72.9%) have a higher win rate in WSL history than Man City boss Gareth Taylor (72.8%), who has won against 25 of the 26 managers he has come up against in the competition; the sole exception is former Brighton boss Melissa Phillips who was replaced by Mikey Harris earlier this year.

Only Khadija Shaw (15) and Lauren James (12) have scored more goals in the WSL this season than Albion’s Elisabeth Terland, who has scored 11 of the Seagulls’ 20 league goals; the only player to net at least half of her team’s total goals this term (55%).

Khadija Shaw has scored six goals in four appearances against Brighton and Hove Albion in the WSL, including four goals in a 7-2 win in April 2022. Only three other players have scored four or more goals in a WSL game: Beth England in January 2018, Vivianne Miedema in December 2019 (6) and Fran Kirby in January 2021.

Lee Geum-min – who played three games in the WSL for Manchester City in 2019 – has scored or assisted in all four of her appearances in the competition against her former side (2 goals, 2 assists) having been directly involved in each of Brighton’s last four league goals against the Cityzens.

Match officials

Referee - Megan Wilson

Assistant Referee - Nicoleta Bria & Ella Broad

Fourth Official - Kirsty Dowle