When and where
Gareth Taylor’s side welcome the Foxes to the Academy Stadium on Sunday 24 April, with kick-off scheduled for 14:00 (UK).
The game is available to watch live on CITY+ while you can also follow minute-by-minute updates and keep across the key moments from the Academy Stadium over on Twitter: @ManCityWomen.
A detailed match report and reaction from Gareth Taylor and players alike will also be made available soon after the final whistle, while highlights and a full-match replay can be accessed from 12:00 on Monday 25 April.
WATCH: Match highlights: Leicester 1-4 City
Form Guide
City come into Sunday’s clash in imperious form, having won the last nine games in succession with a 25-3 goals aggregate.
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The Foxes have lost their last five games in all competitions, scoring twice and conceding 28 as they teeter on the verge of relegation.
Previous Meeting
City raced out of the blocks in the last meeting between the teams back in January.
Ellen White put City ahead in the Continental Cup quarter-final in the East Midlands with just nine minutes played, and two in two minutes from Lauren Hemp (15) and Georgia Stanway (16) put the Blues well in control.
Further strikes from Hemp (34) and Vicky Losada (47) ended the game as a contest with almost an entire half remaining.
Earlier in the campaign, City also beat Leicester 4-1 in the FA WSL.
Despite going behind inside a minute, goals from Caroline Weir, Keira Walsh, Hemp and Laura Coombs completed a comfortable win.
Ticket Information
There’s still time for you to purchase your ticket for Sunday’s clash.
For a full pricing list and further ticketing information, click here.
Team news
Taylor made one change to the side that secured our place in the Women’s FA Cup Final with a 4-1 win over West Ham last time out, as Julie Blakstad replaced Demi Stokes.
Ellie Roebuck took her place in goal, shielded by a backline of Blakstad, Alex Greenwood, Alanna Kennedy and Lucy Bronze.
Keira Walsh protected the back four in the defensive midfield role, employed behind Caroline Weir and Laura Coombs. Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp occupied the wings, while Ellen White led the line upfront.
CITY XI | Roebuck, Bronze, Kennedy, Greenwood, Blakstad, Walsh, Coombs, Weir, Kelly, Hemp, White (C)
SUBS | Taieb, Keating, Stokes, Stanway, Angeldahl, Raso, Shaw, Mace
LEICESTER XI | Lambourne, McManus (C), Flint, Pike, Goodwin, De Graaf, Howard, Gregory, Plumptre, Purfield, O’Brien
SUBS | Harris, Brougham, Devlin, Bailey-Gayle, Barker, Boddy, Scofield
Gareth Taylor preview
“We have to be totally respectful to the opposition. When you put too much pressure on and say: ‘You have to get this amount of goals’ it can affect decision-making. That’s not what we are about.
“Most teams in the league won’t want to concede. They will look at how they can stop that. Unless they’re going to play six at the back, we have to manage the situation in terms of a back five or back four.
“I think the players have adapted really well to all of these situations we have. When you play that type of opposition, it is about patience and moving the ball quickly in the final third.
“We have shown we can score goals in quick succession. I think for us, it’s about attacking the game in the right manner and being respectful to the opposition. Being respectful is trying to score as many as we can.”
WATCH: Match highlights: Leicester 1-4 City
Stats
• In our only previous FA Women’s Super League meeting in November, City won 4-1 against Leicester with goals from Caroline Weir, Keira Walsh, Lauren Hemp and Laura Coombs.
• Gareth Taylor‘s side have won all 19 of our league matches against newly-promoted teams by an aggregate score of 72-6, never conceding more than once in a game in that run.
• We have only conceded twice in nine games in 2022, keeping seven clean sheets, and have won our last five league games without conceding. Only Chelsea have kept more clean sheets (8) and conceded fewer goals (2) this year.
• Only Arsenal (15) and Chelsea (12) have scored more FA WSL goals in the final 15 minutes of matches this season than City (11), while opponents Leicester have conceded the most (15).
• Ellie Roebuck has only conceded three goals in her last 14 FA WSL appearances and has conceded just once in six games this season. Her save percentage of 87.5% is the best of any goalkeeper in a single season in WSL history (min. 5 games).
• Only Beth Mead (41) and Fran Kirby (35) have created more chances in open play than Lauren Hemp this season (31), while her expected assists in open play figure of 3.8 is bettered only by Mead (5.0) and Guro Reiten (3.9).
• Hemp could score in her first two games against a specific opponent for the fifth time in the competition, after Everton, Sunderland, West Ham and most recently Aston Villa in November.
• Leicester have shipped 48 goals in 19 FA WSL matches so far – the only side to concede 50 goals in 20 or fewer games was Yeovil Town, who conceded their 50th goal in their 15th game in the competition back in January 2018.
• The Foxes have conceded 21 goals in their last four league matches, all defeats against Manchester Utd (0-4), Everton (2-3), Chelsea (0-9) and Arsenal (0-5). No team in WSL history has ever lost three consecutive games by a margin of five or more goals.
• Since having 18 shots against Everton – their most in a single FA WSL match – Leicester have managed just three shots in their last two games, two vs Chelsea and one vs Arsenal. No side in WSL history has ever gone three consecutive matches without having more than two shots in a game.
