Friday 11 April 2014

MATCH PREVIEW: 1st Team & Dev. Squad both face Sunderland on Sunday

 This Sunday both the first team and the development squad will face Sunderland Ladies, so whether you’re travelling to Sunderland for the first teams FA Cup tie or you’re back in Liverpool there’s a chance to see Liverpool Ladies play this weekend.

 First up Liverpool Ladies first team will travel to Hetton le Hole to play Sunderland in a repeat of last year’s FA Cup Quarter Final. Last March Liverpool took the lead through Lillie Fenlon-Billson before Sunderland drew level; Katrin Omarsdottir ensured the reds progressed to the Semi Final with the winning goal minutes from time.

Liverpool Ladies 2014
 Liverpool have faced Sunderland already in 2014, their first match since winning the WSL was a 2-0 victory over the black cats at the Hetton Centre with Natasha Dowie and Amanda DaCosta both on the scoresheet.

 Since then Liverpool have played 3 pre-seasons friendlies, first beating Doncaster 1-0 at home thanks to a late Ellie Stewart header and then coming from behind to beat Aston Villa with an own goal and Katrin Omarsdottir. The reds final pre-season game was behind-closed-doors as they faced former keeper Sarah Quantrill and her new club Millwall Lionesses, goals from Natasha Dowie (2), Fara Williams and Martha Harris ensured Liverpool go into the 2014 season unbeaten in all competitions in their last 11 games.

Liverpool's title winning keeper Rachael Laws

 Liverpool will face another former keeper on Sunday with Rachael Laws back at Sunderland following her loan spell in Widnes last season, Sunderland also boast young England U19s striker Beth Mead amongst their ranks. Mead scored earlier this week for England as they secured their qualification for the European Championships, playing alongside Liverpool’s Ellie Stewart and Katie Zelem with Zelem bagging herself a brace in the 5-0 win over Finland. *Update: Tonight Liverpool announced Zelem will be out of action for 6-8 weeks after sustaining a broken collarbone on international duty*

 The game will kick off at 2:07pm (in honour of the 96), Hetton Centre, Park View, Hetton le Hole, DH5 9NE. If you are planning on travelling to the North East get in touch as there are a number of reds making the trip!

 Next up the development squad will welcome Sunderland's dev. squad to Select Stadium, Widnes as they look to make it 3 league wins in a row. The game is down for a 2pm kick off on the FA website however this could also be 2:07pm.

 A number of development squad players have featured for the first team throughout pre-season, a testament to the quality of the players and the coaching staff. Danielle Gibbons, Katie Zelem and Ellie Stewart have been regulars while Ashley Hodson, Hannah Dale and Bethany Donoghue have also been rewarded for their performances in the youth league by being named in the first team squad for the upcoming WSL season.

Ellie Stewart & Katie Zelem
 Following last weekends 3-0 win over Notts County, the dev. squad find themselves just a point from the top of the table with 2 games in hand over leaders Manchester City and have won 3 of their last 4 league games with 10 goals scored, 0 conceded.

 Liverpool are the second highest scoring club in the league, 4 goals behind rivals Everton with 28 goals scored. 10 goals have come from Ashley Hodson and Claudia Walker who have 5 each, the other 18 goals shared between the rest of the squad much like the first team last season. Katie Zelem had 4 goals in 8 appearances before her promotion, Beth Donoghue 3 goals in 13 while Eve Kennerley has scored in each of her last 2 games. Centre back Shannon Beckwith has also scored twice throughout the season while attacking right back Olivia Wild scored her first Liverpool goal in the 5-0 win over Doncaster Belles.

Hannah Dale

 The one to watch this Sunday, if she hasn't travelled with the first team, will be midfielder Hannah Dale who has grown in confidence throughout the season and is a promising prospect for Liverpool Ladies. Dale has 2 goals in 13 appearances and was unlucky not to have a 3rd with a great free kick against Doncaster Belles in the 0-0 draw earlier this year crashing off the crossbar.

 I have 3 match reports from development squad games this season on the blog, you can find those links below. Also follow this link for all first team and reserves squad numbers.


 Thanks for reading!


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