Women's Super League match previews, team news, follow live on Sky Sports
Everton Women host Reading while there are three other WSL games taking place; Birmingham vs Leicester, Tottenham vs Brighton and Aston Villa vs West Ham; Watch free match highlights of every game across Sky Sports' digital platforms
Sunday 6 February 2022 23:44, UK
Team news, stats and how to follow the Women's Super League this weekend with Everton hosting Reading, Brighton visiting Tottenham and Aston Villa vs West Ham.
Everton vs Reading - Sunday, 1pm
The managerless Toffees welcome in-form Reading under the interim charge of Chris Roberts and Claire Ditchburn.
Everton remain without Nicoline Sorensen, who has been out with injury since September, while Nathalie Bjorn could replace Rikke Sevecke in the starting XI.
With Reading goalkeeper Grace Moloney unavailable through injury, Rhiannon Stewart is set to continue in goal for the away side.
Natasha Dowie, who enjoyed a prolific January in front of goal for the Royals, is likely to lead the line alongside Deanne Rose.
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Opta stats
- Reading are without a win in each of their last four matches against Everton in the WSL (D2 L2), since a 3-2 victory at Adams Park in October 2019.
- Everton are looking to win both matches against Reading in a single WSL season for the first time in their history. Indeed, Everton have never lost at home to the Royals in the competition (W3 D1).
- Reading have picked up 19 points from the last 21 available in the WSL (W6 D1 L0), winning more points since their first victory during this run than any other side. This is now the Royals' longest unbeaten run in the competition.
- Across their last seven WSL games, Reading have won six matches, kept five clean sheets, and picked up one more point (19) than in their 23 league games beforehand (P23 W3 D9 L11). The Royals also picked up just two clean sheets during that run.
- No side has conceded fewer second-half goals in the WSL this season than Reading (3), with a league-low 21% of their goals conceded coming after half-time. Meanwhile, 44% of Everton's goals in the competition this term have come in the final 15 minutes of games (4/9), the highest share in the division.
How to follow: Follow the action with our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
Birmingham vs Leicester - Sunday, 2pm
A huge match in the battle for survival sees bottom side Birmingham take on second-from-bottom Leicester.
Darren Carter has no new injury problems, however defender Arabella Suttie remains unavailable as she recovers from a long-term injury.
Leicester are still without goalkeeper Kirstie Levell and Lachante Paul.
Jessica Sigsworth and Natasha Flint are likely to support Shannon O'Brien in the Foxes attack.
Opta stats
- Leicester City's 2-0 win over Birmingham was their first ever in the WSL, with the Foxes restricting the Blues to just one shot on target in the match.
- Birmingham (10) have conceded the opening goal in more matches than any other side in the Women's Super League this season, with the Blues going on to lose nine of those games (D1).
- Though they have lost their two away games since beating Arsenal 2-0 at home in early January, Birmingham are looking to record back-to-back home victories in the WSL for the first time since January 2019 (3 in a row).
- Leicester have won two of their last four WSL games (L2), after starting the season with nine straight defeats. This is the most number of matches a team has played from the start of their first WSL campaign without drawing (W2 L11).
- 29% of Leicester's WSL goals this season have been headers (2/7), the highest share in the division. Meanwhile, Birmingham have conceded more headed goals than any other side in the competition so far this term (9).
How to follow: Follow the action with our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
Tottenham vs Brighton - Sunday, 2pm
The out-of-form Brighton travel to fourth-placed Tottenham, who are yet to lose at home in the league this season.
Spurs midfielder Kit Graham continues her recovery from a cruciate ligament injury which is expected to rule her out for the rest of the season.
Josie Green is likely to start in midfield again, alongside Maeva Clemaron and Ria Percival.
As for the Seagulls, Megan Connolly is set to return to the starting line-up despite being forced off just 22 minutes into Brighton's recent defeat to Arsenal.
Opta stats
- After winning their first three WSL matches against Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur have lost their last two, shipping exactly two goals in both defeats.
- Brighton have lost both of their away WSL games against Tottenham Hotspur - only at Arsenal and Reading have the Seagulls lost their opening three away games against an opponent in the competition.
- Spurs are unbeaten in each of their six home games within the WSL this season, despite scoring exactly once in each of those games (W3 D3). In fact, Tottenham's home matches have produced fewer goals (9) than any other side so far in 2021-22.
- Brighton are winless in their last six WSL games (D1 L5), netting just one goal in those six games. They've never gone seven games without a win in the competition before.
- Tottenham have scored a league-high share 77% of their WSL goals in the second half of games this season (10/13), while only West Ham (79%) have conceded a higher share after half-time than Brighton (78% - 14/18).
How to follow: Follow the action with our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
Aston Villa vs West Ham - Sunday, 6pm
Carla Ward's Aston Villa will look to build on the momentum of their recent derby win over Leicester when they welcome West Ham in the Sunday evening kick-off.
Alesha Lehmann scored the winner against the Foxes to end Villa's four-match league losing streak and will hope to have a similar impact this weekend.
Katerina Svitkova has become a key player for West Ham under Olli Harder and, with four goals under her belt this season, will be one to watch for the Hammers.
Claudia Walker is in fine for and is likely to be at the centre of her side's attack.
Opta stats
- Each of the three WSL meetings between Aston Villa and West Ham United have ended level - the only fixture in the competition's history to finish as a draw in the first four outings was Birmingham City vs Reading (five).
- There have been just two goals scored in the three previous WSL games between Aston Villa and West Ham, with this season's reverse fixture the first to see goals scored (1-1).
- Aston Villa are looking to win back-to-back WSL matches for the very first time following a 2-1 win over Leicester last time out. They have, however, lost seven of their last nine league matches (W2).
- Despite not losing in any match in which they've opened the scoring, West Ham (8) have dropped more points from winning positions than any other WSL side, drawing four of their eight games when scoring first (W4).
- Only Birmingham (12) have lost more home league games than Aston Villa (11) since they were promoted ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, with again, only the Blues (38) shipping more goals on their own turf than Villa over the same period (36).
- Each of West Ham's last six WSL victories has been to nil - the Hammers haven't won a league game when conceding at least once since November 2020 (2-1 vs Birmingham), drawing seven and losing 12 since.
How to follow: Follow the action with our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
