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Match Preview: London City Lionesses vs West Ham
- samwraight
- Oct 11
- 4 min read
Barclays Women’s Super League
Liverpool
Sunday 12th October
12:00pm
The CopperJax Community Stadium
London City Lionesses host West Ham this weekend for a huge London derby, the second of three home games in a row for Jocelyn Prêcheur’s side.
The first home game of this spell was a success, as we picked up three points last Sunday against Liverpool.
Prêcheur is satisfied to be playing infront of a home crowd: “We can expect a strong battle on the pitch, but also who can be noisier in the stands. We need to take this advantage. The support of our fans will be essential on Sunday.”
You can join us tomorrow, with tickets from just £4.
Here is our full match preview ahead of Sunday.
Last Time Out
Last time out, London City Lionesses won in dramatic fashion against Liverpool at the CopperJax Community Stadium.
After a quiet first 45 minutes, we started to turn the screw in the second-half, creating numerous chances.
We were rewarded for our persistence with a penalty in the 88th minute, after Nikita Parris clashed with the goalkeeper, which Elena Linari smashed home to secure all three points.
Read the full story using the button below.
Opposition Overview
West ham have had a difficult start to the WSL this year, yet to record a point after five games.
Despite struggling to perform in the league, the Hammers have seen a lot of success in the Subway Women’s League Cup, recording wins against Charlton and Brighton & Hove Albion.
They are certainly a side who can threaten, with Shekiera Martinez, Vivianne Asseyi and Ffion Morgan in their frontline.
Rehanne Skinner is confident that her West Ham side will pick up more points in the WSL, and she has a fully fit squad to choose from.
West Ham are unbeaten against London City Lionesses in their previous three outings, most recently winning last season, however both managers have addressed London City’s growth in the previous months.
Where to Watch
For ticket information, where to watch, travel guides and more, you can check out our fan guide on the button below.
Injury Updates
Last week, Freya Godfrey returned, making an impact off the bench against Liverpool, a huge bonus for London City Lionesses.
Daniëlle van de Donk, Isa Kardinaal, Teyah Goldie, Poppy Pattinson, Corinne Henson, Sofia Jakobsson and Maddi Wilde will all be sidelined for longer due to injury.
Emily Orman has suffered an arm injury, which will put her out of action for over a month. London City have recalled Sophia Poor from Nottingham Forest.
Jocelyn Prêcheur's Press Conference
Team News
Apart from Emily Orman, we have the same players available from against Liverpool.
Most of the injured players will return between the end of October and the beginning of November.
On Emily Orman’s Injury and Sophia Poor:
The situation is very simple. Unfortunately, Emily got a fracture in her arm from a shot, so she will be out for 1-2 months as a minimum, which is bad news for us.
Therefore, Sophia Poor has come back from Nottingham Forest.
On Grace Geyoro (settling in):
Grace is adapting well, she feels better day after day, and game after game, she will need longer to fully adapt to this league.
She was in the French league for 12 years, she needs time to adapt and I think she is doing really well, she’s working really hard and she can bring so much to this team.
I’m satisfied, everything is very normal and she’s following the process.
On Izzy Goodwin (internationally):
Of course, I’m the first one to say Izzy has such a good potential. I want to keep developing her because she has a lot to improve as well.
She’s young, she has a lot of qualities, and I’m sure she can continue to impose herself on the WSL.
The complexity of the number 9 position is hard, and the competition is tough in England squad, but for sure she definitely has the potential (to play for her country).
On the start of the season:
Satisfied or not, I’m not focusing too much on the results. I want to play a certain way as fast as possible, this is my focus.
The results will be a consequence of our capacity to play well on the pitch, and it’s also a priority to get all the new players to play how I want them to play.
The two victories against Everton and Liverpool, they are good for confidence, for energy. We need to play the way I want to play and we try to improve in every training session.
On his best XI:
I start to, of course, get more knowledge of all of my players, and what connections I can make, which profiles fit with each other.
This is not the most difficult part; the difficult part is creating these connections to make sure that things become automatic in the games.
On the fans:
As I said after the game, for me it’s not a coincidence that we scored in the last moments of the game.
Everyone told us we had more energy, and were better physically speaking, in the last 15 minutes of the game. When you play at home, and I’ve mentioned this many times before, the fans bring the energy we need to finish games the way we want.
We needed to push more to score this goal and get this point, and I’m fully convinced without the fans we wouldn’t have pushed so much, so they did their job. I know the players really want to fight for them, and we want to play attractive football to impress the fans to make the difference.
On Sunday:
We have another very tough game on Sunday, two teams from London, so it will be a bit special.
Every game is tough, but the proximity we have with West Ham, there will be a bit more pressure on this game, it’s a special one for London City Lionesses. We can expect a strong battle on the pitch, but also who can be noisier in the stands. We need to take this advantage.
The support of our fans will be essential on Sunday.
See you on Sunday!