Man City Manchester City

Reading Reading FC

When and Where

The game will take place at the Academy Stadium on Saturday 27 March with kick-off scheduled for 17:30 (UK).

The game will be available to watch via the BBC Red Button and the FA Player, while you can also keep up to date with all the action as it unfolds via our Matchday Centre and on Twitter: @ManCityWomen.

After the final whistle, you can also find a comprehensive match report on proceedings, as well as post-match reaction from Gareth Taylor and a player on mancity.com and our official app.

TV broadcasters

UK: BBC Red Button, FA Player
USA: NBC SN
Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic): Canal 521
Canada: SN Now (OTT)
Australia: Optus Sport 3
New Zealand: Spark Sport
South Africa: SABC3 + streaming portal
Israel: Charlton Sport
Finland, Iceland, Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania): Viaplay
Sweden: V Sport Premium
Germany, Italy: DAZN, ATA Football + Fanatiz
Norway: V Sport 2
Denmark: TV3 Sport
Rest of world: FA Player

MATCH PROGRAMME

View your FREE digital edition of the City v Reading matchday programme here...

GET INVOLVED

We miss seeing you guys at the Academy stadium! You can get involved from home on matchday by:

• Tweet the Academy Stadium big screen with your messages as the team warm up using #CityBigScreen. We’ll get as many of your messages up there as possible from 13:00 and at half-time!
• Follow the @CitySquareLive twitter and Instagram accounts to see behind-the-scenes on matchday and catch PA announcer Danny at the Academy Stadium, plus see your messages and shout-outs on the big screen before kick-off!
• Finally, each matchday we have a Junior Cityzen of the Match who joins the starting XI on our stadium screens at the Academy as the team is read out! They also feature in the programme and receive a City Goodie Bag, and full kit! Enter to be a Junior Cityzen of the Match for a future game on the Cityzens portal and catch the announcement for each game on the City Square Live Twitter in the hour before kick off!

Rules

For safety reasons in the wake of the pandemic, the fixture will be played behind-closed-doors.

In line with current protocols, additional balls will be placed at intervals around the pitch.

CITY+ | watch full-match replays of every city game

Team news

Gareth Taylor has revealed a rough timescale on City captain Steph Houghton’s recovery from an Achilles injury.

Houghton has not featured since making her 200th City appearance in the 1-0 victory over Everton at the beginning of March, picking up the knock in our 3-0 Champions League last 16 first leg triumph over Fiorentina.

And while the manager admitted that our captain will remained sidelined for at least another fortnight, he added that she has been able to step up her progress in getting back to full fitness.

Beyond the skipper’s absence, Taylor added that there were no fresh injury concerns with the games coming thick and fast both on a European and domestic setting.

Gareth Taylor preview

“This is a tough game; they are all tough.

“They’re a team who’ve taken points off us this season, they’ve taken points off other teams as well, so they’re not to be underestimated.

“But I’d like to see a positive response from our team on our patch. We’re looking forward to it.”

Form Guide

Our scintillating run of nine-straight victories in all competitions was brought to an end with defeat in the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona.

However, we come into the Academy Stadium clash hoping to extend our longest ever winning run in the WSL to an astonishing 11 matches.

Three points would also be crucial in maintaining our bid for the title, with a positive result sending us top for 24 hours at least before current league leaders Chelsea face Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

Reading will be hoping to get back to winning ways after two draws and a defeat in their last three matches.

They currently sit seventh in the table, with their last match against Tottenham finishing goalless on Sunday 14 March.

Last Meeting

It was honours even at the Madejski Stadium in our last meeting back in October, with Sam Mewis’ third goal in five matches not enough to earn City all three points in a 1-1 draw.

The hosts drew first blood inside three minutes when Amelie Eikeland’s near-post flick from a corner squeezed through a crowd of bodies and into the net.

But Gareth Taylor’s side responded before the hour, with Mewis cutting in on her right foot, dancing her way through a couple of chances and curling an inch-perfect effort into the bottom corner.

City had chances to take all three points, but were thwarted by a stubborn Royals rearguard, leaving us fifth in the WSL after five matches.

WATCH: Match highlights: Reading 1-1 City

Last Time Out

It’s advantage Barcelona in our Champions League quarter-final clash, after the Spanish champions secured a 3-0 first leg victory in Monza on Wednesday.

However, we can take heart from our own triumph over Bristol City by the same scoreline in our last domestic outing which kept the pressure on league leaders Chelsea.

Stats

o City have won 10 consecutive FA Women’s Super League matches. In the competition’s history, there have only been two longer winning runs – a 12-game run by Arsenal ending in November 2018, and an 11-game run by Arsenal ending in September 2019.
o City are winless in our last two home league matches against Reading (D1 L1), with this our first meeting at the Academy Stadium since a 1-1 draw in October 2018.
o Reading have only won two of their last 14 league matches (D8 L4), but both of those victories came away from home – against Brighton in December and Manchester United in February.
o Chloe Kelly has assisted six league goals following a ball carry this season (travelling at least five metres with the ball) - twice as many as any other player in the division.
o City and Reading have the joint-lowest PPDA (opposition passes allowed per defensive action) figure in the FA Women’s Super League this season (8.6), highlighting both team’s pressing credentials.
o  Should Caroline Weir feature, she would clock her 50th WSL appearance for City.

WATCH: Taylor on title race and TV deal