Liverpool Women Prepare for Challenge of Facing Everton at Anfield
Last season, Matt Beard’s side were perhaps not quite ready for the big occasion, but the early signs are this year could be different.
When the October international break wraps up and club football resumes, Liverpool fans will have a derby against Everton at Anfield to look forward to. Before that, though, there’s another derby against Everton at Anfield to look forward to.
Liverpool Women, top of the FAWSL table and fresh off their second win to start season after dispatching Aston Villa 2-0, are set to host Everton with the game to be played at Anfield with a Sunday late afternoon kickoff.
“We are all excited to get the opportunity once again to play in front of the Kop at Anfield,” said manager Matt Beard of the upcoming match. “Whenever you play at Anfield it’s an amazing occasion and we are very much looking forward to it.
“I think we have learned a lot and grown since we played there last season against Everton. It’s still going to be a big occasion but we’ve played at Emirates Stadium, Villa Park, Goodison Park as well as Anfield, so it shouldn’t faze us.”
Last season, the occasion ended in a 3-0 defeat to the Reds’ neighbours, but in the time since, Beard’s side have had more opportunities to play on big occasions and against top opposition—and certainly this season the returns are good.
In beating Aston Villa in their last outing and Arsenal in the season opener, Liverpool Women have defeated a pair of teams that expect to at least be near the top of the table each season in the FA Women’s Super League.
If they can now get a result against Everton, it would seem confirmation that this side—so recently dropped back into the second division and under-supported by the club—is ready to compete at the highest levels of women’s club football.
“I felt the occasion got to us a little last season,” Beard added. “Whenever you play at Anfield and hear You’ll Never Walk Alone, it’s a completely different scenario. It’s still spine-tingling [at Prenton Park], but at Anfield it’s so special.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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