Brian Sorensen has insisted his side must tighten up defensively and have more than one game plan as Everton Women return to WSL action with a trip to unbeaten Chelsea.
The head coach has been boosted by
the return of influential midfielder Aurora Galli, who is in the matchday squad this weekend, although Toni Payne is ‘touch and go’ after sustaining a knock in the win against Newcastle.
Initial reports are showing that all those who represented their countries over the international break have returned ok, but Megan Finninan & Elise Stenevik remain out.
Everton headed into the international break off the back of a 3-1 win away at Newcastle in the Subway League Cup. Abd while it was a good run out and confidence boost for his team, Sorensen knows that they will need more again Sonia Bompastor’s team.
“That [win against Newcastle] was good. We played strong and tried to get minutes. We displayed ourselves very well. We recruited to score more goals, and that is what we are doing.
“We need to tighten up defensively, hopefully we can display that against Chelsea.
“It’s about having a plan for the different scenarios that you are going to play against. They have variety in their game. We just have to not only have one plan, but have a few depending on their shape and player selection.”
“They are a very good team. They are unbeaten. Are there weaknesses in the team? Yes. Can we exploit them? Yes. But, we must be at the top of our game.
“We must go out and play the best we can.”
The Opposition
“I think some of their results don’t reflect the performances they have had; the game against Man City, they lost the game 2-1, but they hit the post and created a lot of opportunities in that game.
“Probably, where are in the table isn’t reflecting the way they are playing, and it’s a team that are creating more and more opportunities and scoring more and more goals.
“They are also a difficult team to break down.”
The thoughts of Bompastor, who will welcome the Merseysiders without Erin Cuthbert, who will miss Sunday’s fixture due to a concussion suffered on international duty, while Wieke Kaptein is also a doubt through injury.
Quarter-finalists in the League Cup and still unbeaten in both the Champions League and the WSL, the Londoners will be somewhat unaccustomed to send place in the latter and three points behind current leaders, Manchester City.
That being said, Bompastor’s team is packed with strength and international quality that enables the current league champions to compete on a number of fronts.
With the division’s meanest defence, which contains former Toffee Nathalie Bjorn and backed up by England’s Hannah Hampton between the sticks, Everton will have to take their chances without fail if they are to get a result.
Another star who will be well known to the Goodison faithful is Aggie Beever-Jones, who enjoyed a successful loan spell on Merseyside, something that has aided her development in becoming one of Chelsea’s key players as well as an England international.
Previous Meetings
Last season was a familiar chapter in a one-sided story, as the three meetings between the sides all went the way of the West Londoners.
Another side Sorensen has never beaten, February’s fixture at Kingsmeadow was particularly harsh on the Blues, who soaked up the pressure to take the lead through Kelly Gago, only for Mayra Ramirez to level proceedings 11 minutes later.
And with the game in added time, Lauren James settled matters with a wonderful individual goal, although the Toffees felt aggrieved play wasn’t stopped due to a suspected head injury.
But it is worth noting, Liverpool held Chelsea to a draw in their last league game, something the Blues can certainly look towards as incentive.
Everton Women take on Chelsea and Kingsmeadow on Sunday, 7 December, at 2.30pm GMT (9.30 ET, 6.30 PT).
