Man City Women v Leicester City Women match preview

In their first ever meeting, Leicester City Women will be travelling to Manchester and the Academy Stadium for both teams second Continental Cup group game.

Man City sit third in Group One North after their draw and penalty win over Birmingham last Sunday and behind Leicester who are second on 2 points; leaders Sheffield United sitting at the top. Both teams will be looking to avoid going to penalties once again, Leicester having beaten Bristol last week, to earn a win in normal time.

Leicester City Women are a team that have been around for a number of years, fifteen to be exact and have risen through the women’s football pyramid, most recently having played in what was the FA Women’s Premier League Northern Division; finishing second in the 2017/18 season behind Blackburn Rovers Ladies. Some of their achievements include winning the Leicestershire and Rutland CFA County Cup eight times, 2015/16 being the only season they haven’t won the cup since their formation.

Manager Jonathan Morgan has been in charge since 2014 after stepping up from the reserve team and has managed to retain ten players from his squad last season and brought in thirteen new players including Birmingham City Women’s Freda Ayisi and Maddy Cusack as well as Man City Women’s Development player Serena Fletcher.

Speaking to lcwfc.com Morgan said: “I’m delighted with the players that we’ve kept on from last season, it shows the development of our club. We competed at the top end of the National division last season and we’re now ready to step up. We’ve also added some excellent quality to our squad and I firmly believe we’re ready for the challenges of the FA Women’s Championship and I hope we can take the league by storm”.

Leicester’s retained players include goalkeeper Charlotte Clarke, defenders Charlotte Greengrass, Hayley James and captain Holly Morgan, midfielders Nat Johnson, Mai Moncaster and Nicole Nymoen and forwards Rosie Axten, Sophie Domingo and Leigh Dugmore. New players include goalkeeper Demi Lambourne, Ella Franklin-Fraiture and Taome Oliver from Oxford United Women, Sarah Jackson, Sherry McCue and Melissa Johnson from Sheffield FC Ladies, Lucy Johnson and Freya Thomas from Leicester City’s RTC, Natasha Hudson from Nottingham Forest Ladies and Fiona Worts from AFC Guiseley Vixens.

Man City will be looking to gain 3 points against a team who have some very experienced players, some who they will have faced before in Ayisi and Cusack and others who were prolific for their former clubs in Johnson and Franklin-Fraiture.

New signing Janine Beckie is expected to be in the crowd after flying over from America this week, but it is unlikely that she will make the team due to the fact she is yet to meet the squad and train with them.

The Manchester City Cityzens Sunday family day is taking place on match day at the CFA and Academy Stadium, where the men’s first team will be taking a training session in front of the fans; gates open at nine thirty am.

Fans will then leave the stadium and there is a football festival being hosted within the CFA campus behind the Academy Stadium, featuring football workshops and plenty of activities for the children to take part in, this will be taking place after the open training session and before the kick off of the women’s match. Gates for the match open at 2pm before kick off at 3pm and seats for both the men’s training session and the women’s match will be unreserved, but there is an area reserved for women’s season card holders so ask a steward and they will direct you to the correct seating.

Tickets for the day are £6 and £4 concessions and FREE if you are a women’s SEASON CARD HOLDER, the ticket should have been emailed to you and you will need to print the ticket at home. Tickets will cover you for all three events happening on the day.