Against the reigning champions, the clash will provide a thorough examination of City’s top-flight credentials but Nick Cushing’s side maintain they are full of confidence, following a positive pre-season and a hard-fought cup win over Reading Women.
Midfielder Jill Scott asserts her teammates have faith in their own ability, although she has warned of the Merseysiders’ attacking threat.
“Liverpool are a very talented squad and they have a lot of experienced players,” she declared. “Fara Williams has been capped over 120 times for England, which speaks volumes, and they’ve also got their main threat in Gemma Davison, who they signed from Arsenal, down the wing. Of course, Natasha Dowie was top scorer last year too.
“We know they’ve got goals in them but at the same time, we have to believe in what we can do. We’ve got Toni Duggan who’s scoring for fun at the moment and hopefully, she can do that again on Thursday.”
Where many have concluded that the Blues couldn’t have received a more difficult start to life in the top division, manager Cushing insists - at this stage - any game would be tough for his side, who have only been playing together since January.
“We’re a new team and we’re still in our infancy,” he stated. “We’re building the team together and each game presents a short-term challenge.
“Playing against FA WSL opposition is a true test because they play in our league. No disrespect to the teams we’ve played so far but we haven’t played against teams of this quality before so every game we play will test us.”
Cushing also played down talk of specific targets for the season, claiming the Blues’ main aim is to prove their worth in the FA WSL, whilst continuing their own development.
“At the moment, league position is not our main focus,” he revealed. “Instead, we’re looking at becoming a competitive team in the short-term but improving every week.
“We want to be here next year but even stronger.”
Kick-off for the Liverpool clash is at 19:45 BST at the Select Security Stadium, Widnes, WA8 7DZ.
Tickets are priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for Concessions. If you can’t make it though, the game is being shown live on BT Sport from 7pm and we’ll also have live updates on Twitter as well as a full match report on mcfc.co.uk after full-time.
