Manchester City striker Janine Beckie is confident her side can bounce back to winning ways on Women’s Football Weekend when they welcome West Ham United to the Academy Stadium, writes Matthew Chivers.
City have managed just one win in their last five games in all competitions, however they have won four out of their five fixtures in the Women’s Super League.
Their sole league defeat came against second-placed Arsenal in their last league game, courtesy of a Vivianne Miedema goal just before half-time.
City could rise to first place with a win on Sunday if other results go their way and despite their recent dip in form, Beckie is in no doubt they have a good chance of doing so.
She said: “If we take care of business on Sunday, we could be right back at the top of the league.
“We had a good comeback win against Birmingham before the international break and that gave us good momentum and now it is important that we keep winning.
“I think West Ham will challenge us, every team in the league is getting better, every game is competitive. There are no blowouts in the league, and this will be another difficult game for us.”
With the men’s international break taking place, this weekend is about more than three points for City.
The game comes as part of the inaugural Women’s Football Weekend, which will see thousands of fans will flock to men’s grounds up and down the country on Sunday, including the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Anfield, the Amex and the Madejski, to see their women’s equivalent in action.
Manchester City will not be playing at the Etihad on this occasion, and according to midfielder Georgia Stanway, her side need to earn the right to play there again.
She said: “The first thing for us now is that we are filling stadiums consistently in the Women’s Super League. We played the Manchester derby at the Etihad at the start of the season and we got 31,000.
“If we can fill the academy stadium to then earn the right to play in the Etihad again, it would be unbelievable and a massive step for the women’s game.”
