WHEN AND WHERE
The game takes place at the King Power Sports Stadium on Sunday 7 November, with kick-off scheduled for 14:00pm (UK).
The match will be shown live on the FA Player in the UK.
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We’ll also have updates of the game on Twitter @ManCityWomen, and following the full-time whistle, a comprehensive match report and post-match reaction from Gareth Taylor will be available to view on mancity.com and our official app.
Highlights will be available from midday the following day and should you miss the action entirely, a full-match replay will also be available to view with a CITY+ subscription from midday the following day.
Team news and tactics
Gareth Taylor made six changes to the side that defeated Durham 3-0 in the Continental Cup in midweek.
Alex Greenwood, Jill Scott, Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh, Lauren Hemp and Caroline Weir replace Alanna Kennedy, Ruby Mace, Janine Beckie, Vicky Losada, Hayley Raso and Laura Coombs.
Stanway returns from her three-match suspension.
Karima Taieb is shielded by a backline of Demi Stokes, Greenwood, Scott and Stanway with Walsh protecting the back four.
Weir (fresh from her 100th appearance) and Filippa Angeldahl occupy central midfield, flanked by Hemp and Jess Park with captain Ellen White leading the line upfront.
CITY XI | Taieb, Stanway, Scott, Greenwood, Stokes, Walsh, Angeldahl, Weir, Park, Hemp, White (C)
SUBS | Pilling, Raso, Coombs, Beckie, Kennedy, Mace, Losada
LEICESTER XI | Levell, Tierney, McManus, Brougham, Pike, Sigsworth, De Graaf, Bailey-Gayle, Plumptre, Purfield, O’Brien.
SUBS | Lambourne, Flint, Devlin, Howard, Barker, Grant, Zajmi, Camwell
GARETH TAYLOR PREVIEW
“Let’s build some momentum. We go to a decent venue in the King Power Stadium facing Leicester – a team who came up from the Championship and a decent opponent, who fought really hard to get up.
“I’ve had good conversations with Jonathan [Morgan]. They did really well last season and we played them in last season’s FA Cup quarter-final, complimenting each other after the game.
“Then I saw him a few times at pre-season games and we had conversations around how things were going. Emile Heskey is there as an assistant, helping with the women’s set-up, so they have a good couple of guys who are passionate about wanting to do well and I’m sure they’ll achieve it.
“They’ve been unfortunate not to put points on the board but I don’t think they’re a million miles off the level required to stay in the league. I’m sure they’ll achieve that.
“These games often decided on scoring early on – it settles nerves and probably enables you to go on win comfortably. The longer it remains a tight scoreline, the energy levels go up.
“They’ve been unfortunate against Chelsea and other teams when they’re in it for long periods. Sometimes, you need a bit of luck to go your way.
“We really respect them as the team they are and what they’re trying to achieve but it has to be about us - that we execute the objective of the game: to win and put in a good performance.
“We want to continue and use Thursday’s win, capitalise on it and use the momentum.”
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LAST TIME OUT
City secured a comfortable 3-0 home success over Durham in our latest Continental Cup group game.
Filippa Angeldahl had put the hosts ahead inside 20 minutes with an incisive low finish, as City dominated proceedings from the off.
Caroline Weir, came on off the bench and marked her 100th City appearance in style with a typically impressive strike to double our advantage.
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And Janine Beckie rounded off the scoring with a clinical half-volley as stoppage time approached to secure a second win in two Group B matches.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER
A Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw treble helped City reach a seventh successive 2021 Women’s FA Cup semi-final with an emphatic 6-0 quarter-final win over Leicester back in September.
Gareth Taylor’s side, further depleted by the absence of cup tied Alanna Kennedy and Ruby Mace, mounted the perfect response to a league defeat away at Arsenal.
The home side came back fighting with an excellent performance as Shaw got off the mark at the Academy Stadium with a second half hat-trick.
A thunderbolt from Vicky Losada and first City strikes from captain Alex Greenwood and new signing Filippa Angeldahl added further gloss to an already impressive scoreline and earn us a last four assignment against Chelsea.
FORM GUIDE
City head into the game in encouraging form with two wins, a draw and a defeat in our last four games across all competitions.
This will also be our first league match since last month’s action-packed 2-2 derby draw away at Manchester United with City currently sit ninth in the table with one win, a draw and three defeats from our opening five games.
Leicester, who were promoted to the top flight at the end of last season, currently prop up the table having lost all five of their games so far.
STATS
● Chloe Kelly, Alex Greenwood, Filippa Angeldahl and Tessa Wullaert have all scored their first City goals against Leicester
● Leicester trio Abbie McManus, Georgia Brougham and Natasha Flint also used to play for City.
● City have won each of the last five matches against Leicester City in all competitions, including 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0 wins. The 6-0 win came in September in the Women’s FA Cup, with Khadija Shaw netting a hat-trick.
● Leicester City haven’t hosted City in a league match since November 2011, when the visitors won 3-0 in the FA Women’s National League.
● Leicester City have lost all five of their WSL matches – only Yeovil Town (7) have ever started with a longer run of defeats in the competition’s history.
● Leicester’s open play sequences have lasted only 4.7 seconds on average in the WSL this season, the shortest amount of time on average for any side.
● The average age of Leicester City’s starting XIs in the WSL this season is 24 years and 25 days, comfortably the youngest of any side.
● City have won all 18 of our WSL matches against newly-promoted teams, scoring 68 goals while only conceding five times themselves. The only other sides to have won 100% of their matches against such opposition are Manchester United (5/5) and Aston Villa (1/1).
● Leicester City’s Jessica Sigsworth has taken five shots following ball carries in the WSL this season (travelling 5+ metres with the ball) – only Spurs’ Kit Graham (6) has attempted more shots in this manner.
● City striker Khadija Shaw has scored 24 goals in 22 league starts since the beginning of last season, including scoring in both of her WSL starts so far.
● No player has completed more dribbles in the WSL this season than City’s Lauren Hemp (9 of 15 attempted). She has also taken two shots and created three chances directly following dribbles, the most of any player in the division.
● To date, Leicester have also accrued more yellow cards – seven – than any other side in the top flight.
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