Scott Phelan has spoken of his pride at playing at Goodison Park and declared his Everton Women side are fortunate to be playing there, while the head coach has urged the Blues to keep making memories, starting with Saturday’s showdown with Liverpool at the Grand Old Lady.
The Toffees head into the weekend’s Merseyside derby with all the players that featured in last week’s fixture against Manchester United coming through unscathed, and will also be boosted by those Japanese contingent, who this week returned
following a victorious Asian Cup campaign, as well as Clare Wheeler, with Australia falling to the Nadeshiko in the final.
And Phelan is desperate for his team to make an impact and is hoping that as many fans as possible can play their part.
“It is an exciting fixture in the calendar. It is red versus blue. We are desperate to try and make an impact in the game which will lead to victory,” he said.
“Some games don’t need extra motivation, this is one of them.
“We are so proud and fortunate to play at Goodison. We want to create an atmosphere and we are desperate to come back and play in front of our home fans.
“We need as many to turn up and get behind us as possible.”
“Hopefully, we can keep creating memories towards now and the end of the season.”
The Opposition
Gareth Taylor will also welcome back Asian Cup winners in the shape of Fuka Nagano and Risa Shimizu, both of whom are expected to return to Liverpool’s squad at the weekend.
Sitting tenth in the WSL and five points clear of bottom placed Leicester City, the Reds will be looking to build momentum ahead of an April which sees them do battle with Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup quarter-final before a fixture at home to West Ham United, who sit just below them in the league.
With the second best defence in the bottom six, it has been goals that have been largely the problem for Taylor’s team, with only the two sides below Liverpool scoring fewer.
That being said, Beata Olsson has enjoyed an impressive season in front of goal, with ten in 17 appearances, and will be one that Phelan will be instructing his defence to keep an eye on.
Previous Meetings
Everton have won more WSL games against Liverpool than any other team (10) and are unbeaten in each of their last eight league meetings against their city rivals, with six wins and two draws, since a 3-1 loss in May 2019.
The Reds did win the last meeting, however, when goals from Olsson and Mia Enderby saw them advance to the last eight of the FA Cup in February’s tie at St Helen’s Stadium.
Though there is little chance of finishing above Everton, Taylor will be keen to avenge the opening day of the WSL season, when Ornella Vignola announced herself to English football with a debut hattrick at Anfield that helped seal a resounding 4-1 win at the Blues’ original home.
Everton Women host Liverpool at Goodison Park on Saturday, 28 March, at 12pm GMT (7am ET, 4am PT).
Tickets for Scott Phelan’s first ever derby as Blues’ boss are still available here.
