Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Women’s Super League clash between Liverpool Women and Crystal Palace Women, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Liverpool Women will welcome Crystal Palace Women to St Helens Stadium for Sunday’s Women’s Super League clash.
The Reds are siting in fifth place in the WSL table, while the visitors will head into the weekend in eighth position.
Match preview
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Liverpool have experienced a mixed start to the WSL season, having won one, drawn two and lost one of their five league matches.
The Reds kicked off their WSL campaign with back-to-back draws, before they scored a late winner to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 on matchday three.
However, Matt Beard‘s side were on the wrong side of a stoppage-time winner in last Sunday’s home clash with Manchester City.
Olivia Smith saw her first-half opener cancelled out by Khadija Shaw, before the Man City striker scored again in the 92nd minute to condemn the Reds to their first league defeat of the season.
Having taken one point from two home games, the Reds will be keen to claim their first home WSL win of the season in their first meeting with Palace since running out 4-0 winners in the second tier in January 2022.
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After winning one and losing three of their four WSL matches, Palace are sitting in eighth position and one point clear of the sole relegation spot.
The Eagles endured a difficult start to their first WSL campaign, losing 4-0 to Tottenham before falling to a heavy 7-0 home defeat against Chelsea.
However, they restored some much-needed belief with a 2-0 win in their away clash with Leicester City earlier this month.
Unfortunately for Palace, they were unable to add to their three-point tally in last Sunday’s home game against Brighton, with Bruna Vilamala‘s first-half effort proving enough to separate the two sides.
After experiencing disappointment on home turf, Palace will now head back on their travels for their final game before the international break, knowing they will move above Liverpool if they can claim a second straight away victory.
Liverpool Women Women’s Super League form:
Liverpool Women form (all competitions):
Crystal Palace Women Women’s Super League form:
Crystal Palace Women form (all competitions):
Team News
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Liverpool’s Smith was forced off at half time against Man City, but Beard has revealed the striker will be fit for Sunday’s contest.
A late decision will be made on Grace Fisk‘s availability, with the defender closing in on a return after missing the first competitive games of the season.
However, Beard will have to cope without the services of Sophia Roman Haug, who sustained an ankle injury at Anfield last weekend.
The Reds will also be unable to call upon Faye Kirby, Olivia Smith and Sofie Lundgaard due to their respective injury issues.
As for the visitors, they remain without the services of Elise Hughes and Hayley Nolan due to knee and shoulder injuries respectively.
Ex-Liverpool striker Katie Stengel will line up against her former club, with the 32-year-old still searching for her first goal since joining Palace in the summer.
Shanade Hopcroft will hope to get minutes off the bench after she returned from injury to feature in the matchday squad against Brighton.
Liverpool Women possible starting lineup:
Laws; Clark, Bonner, Matthews; Parry, Hobinger, Nagano, Kapocs, Hinds; Smith, Enderby
Crystal Palace Women possible starting lineup:
Yanez; Green, Everett, Veje, Gibbons; Potter, Cato; Gejl, Blanchard, Riley; Stengel
We say: Liverpool Women 2-0 Crystal Palace Women
Liverpool will be motivated to produce a positive response following their first WSL defeat of the season, and we think they will bounce by taking all three points from Sunday’s home fixture against a Palace side that have lost three of their four league games this term.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.