Key events
16 min: Holland takes the corner and finds Clark in the box, but the defender heads wide.
15 min: Holland sends a cross deep into the box from the left. Csillag goes for the header but Knaak gets a touch on it to flick the ball behind for a corner.
14 min: Liverpool are still pressing high, but City appear to be dealing with it much better now. The visitors just need to make sure they are not caught out in defence.
11 min: After receiving some treatment, Knaak is back on the pitch.
8 min: Knaak is down and looks to be in some pain following a heavy collision with Csillag. She is holding her left shoulder.
7 min: Rose sends a diagonal ball over to Kerolin, who looks to make a run towards goal but is flagged offside.
5 min: Liverpool hit the post! A corner is sent into the box and a header from Fisk rattles the left post! It comes just a few moments after Yamashita was forced into a strong save on the same side.
City are really feeling the pressure.
3 min: Two big chances for Liverpool in the early stages. The first comes from a cross by Csillag, which is narrowly missed by Holland in the box.
The next is created by Holland, who sends a cross into the danger zone. Csillag is there to head it towards goal and forces a save from Yamashita.
2 min: Liverpool appear to be pressing quite high in these opening few minutes. City look fairly comfortable in possession.
Kick-off
We’re under way at the Joie Stadium!
The teams are out! Kick-off is just a few moments away!
It was the final day of the WSL2 season yesterday. Charlton Athletic went into the match at the top of the table but suffered a 2-0 loss to promotion rivals Birmingham City, who snatched the title. Crystal Palace also cruised to a 6-1 win over Portsmouth to take the second automatic promotion spot, dropping Charlton down to third.
The London-based side will now face Leicester in a play-off later this month to determine who will take the last available spot in the WSL for the 2026-27 campaign.
How the WSL table is looking before kick-off…
Manchester City head coach Andrée Jeglertz urged his players to keep a level head in their penultimate game of the season today. He said: “There’s quite a lot of teams in the world that emotions affect performances and we talked a lot that no matter what emotions or pressure you have, you can still follow the gameplan and do the things you are good at.
“That has to be the thing that you’re also coming back to. That is my job to spread the calmness and not push the players in the wrong direction. We all have a big role in that.
“The key thing for us is to be able to do all the things we are good at no matter the pressure. We can always do the things we agreed beforehand. All the games here have been amazing with spectators and atmosphere.
“We have the confidence that we are very good at this stadium but also enjoy the moment a little bit. How this league ends is up to us. We shouldn’t have any regrets when we leave the field to look in the mirror and know we have done everything we can to win this game.
“Regardless of the pressure, we need to stick to what we have agreed on.”
Lea Schüller scored a late equaliser to snatch a point for Manchester United against Brighton yesterday. The visitors had been leading the game from the 39th minute, when Jelena Čanković capitalised on an error from Phallon Tullis-Joyce to break the deadlock.
However, a late push from United saw Schüller level things up in added time.
Elsewhere in the WSL today
Team news
Manchester City starting line-up: Ayaka Yamashita; Jade Rose, Rebecca Knaak, Alex Greenwood, Kerstin Casparij; Sam Coffey, Yui Hasegawa; Lauren Hemp, Aoba Fujino, Kerolin; Khadija Shaw.
Subs: Khiara Keating, Grace Clinton, Laura Coombs, Mary Fowler, Leila Ouahabi, Laura Blindkilde Brown, Iman Beney, Gracie Prior, Lily Murphy.
Liverpool starting line-up: Jennifer Falk; Risa Shimizu, Grace Fisk, Jenna Clark, Alejandra Bernabé; Denise O’Sullivan, Fūka Nagano; Mia Enderby, Beata Olsson, Ceri Holland; Aurélie Csillag.
Subs: Faye Kirby, Gemma Evans, Lily Woodham, Kirsty Maclean, Anna Jøsendal, Alice Bergström, Zara Shaw, Maizie Trueman.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to coverage of the WSL meeting between Manchester City and Liverpool. A win for City today will keep them in complete control of the WSL title race, but anything less could allow Arsenal – who will have three games in hand by this evening – to swoop in and take the crown on the final day.
The hosts need to bounce back from their shock 3-2 loss to Brighton, but Liverpool will not be easy opponents. Gareth Taylor comes up against his former side in the hopes of derailing their title charge. The Reds have improved significantly since the start of the year and are capable of causing a huge upset.
However, City have the quality to get over the line in their penultimate game.
Kick-off is at 12pm BST – join me!
