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Birmingham City versus London City Lionesses
Continental Cup (Group C), St. Andrew's Stadium, Saturday, 17 December with kick-off at 2pm
London City Lionesses will play their final match of the year on Saturday [17 December], with a trip to St. Andrew's to face Birmingham City in the Continental Cup.
Melissa Phillips and the Lionesses have already played two matches in Group C, falling to West Ham United on penalties before losing narrowly to Brighton & Hove Albion at Princes Park.
London City are in fine scoring form ahead of their final group phase match of the campaign and approach their meeting with the Blues hoping to bounce back from a 1-1 draw with Southampton last time out.
Birmingham, meanwhile, welcome the Lionesses to St. Andrew's following an impressive 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers last weekend. The Lionesses and the Blues have met once before this season, with London City earning a 3-2 win on home soil.
Elsewhere in Group C, table-topping West Ham travel to Brighton hoping to punch their ticket to the quarter-finals.
Head Coach, Melissa Phillips
"It was an exciting game when we met Birmingham at home last time and maybe the scoreline was closer than the match indicated, just with conceding and scoring the set-pieces," Philips said of the Lionesses' previous encounter with the Blues.
"There was a lot of even and open play, Birmingham have been a competitive side in the league and went on to take down Bristol City the following weekend. We know it’s going to be competitive."
When asked about the importance of finishing the year on a high with a positive result, Phillips added: "For us, a positive result is a positive performance.
"We focus so little on the end outcome and the result, but focus so much more on the performance and what that will require from us. That’s something that we’ve been very clear about in each window of games and how we’re going to approach them: what’s the mentality of the team, what points are required, and what do we need from our performances?
"We take it one match at a time and that’s how we’ll look at Birmingham as well. Ultimately, we want to make sure we put in a performance that we’re going to be proud of."
Quick Facts: Birmingham City
Darren Carter’s squad are fifth in the Women’s Championship at the nine-game mark, with a record of five wins, one draw, and three defeats.
Shanade Hopcroft scored a memorable hat-trick in our previous meeting with the Blues.
If results go their way, Birmingham City could advance to the knockout phase with a win on Saturday.