Preview: Manchester City Women vs. Arsenal Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Arsenal Women will travel to the Joie Stadium for Sunday's Women's Super League meeting with Manchester City Women.

The hosts are sitting in third place with 25 points to their name, while the Gunners are one point adrift in fourth position.

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Match preview

Man City endured a poor run of three defeats in four league matches, before they recorded a much-needed victory in last Saturday's away meeting with Aston Villa.

Vivianne Miedema netted a brace alongside goals from Mary Fowler and Jess Park to fire the Citizens to a 4-2 win at Villa Park, moving them above Arsenal and into the Women's Champions League qualification spots.

However, the Citizens still require a miracle if they are to put themselves in title contention, with nine points separating them from leaders Chelsea ahead of matchday 13 of the WSL season.

As a result, Man City's main priority will be to secure a top-three finish, and they can take a significant step towards achieving that goal if they can record their first WSL victory over Arsenal since February 2023.

The hosts have won five of their six home league games this season, although they fell to a 4-2 defeat against local rivals Manchester United in their most recent WSL home fixture.

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers oversaw a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions before she oversaw her first defeat in last Sunday's WSL clash against leaders Chelsea.

The contest looked set to end all square until Kim Little was penalised for a challenge on Lauren James in the box, allowing Guro Reiten to score the decisive goal from the penalty spot, condemning Arsenal to their first loss since they previously faced Chelsea in October.

Arsenal quickly picked themselves up to record a comfortable 5-0 victory in Wednesday's Women's FA Cup clash against second-tier Bristol City, largely thanks to braces from Stina Blackstenius and Beth Mead.

They will now head on their travels for Sunday's fixture, with the visitors looking to extend their four-game unbeaten run in WSL meetings with Man City (W3, D1).

The Gunners will have fond memories of their most recent away game against the Citizens in May 2024 when a late Blackstenius brace secured a narrow 2-1 victory.

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Team News

The hosts are expected to be without Alex Greenwood, Lauren Hemp and Risa Shimizu, while Khiara Keating is a doubt after missing the win over Aston Villa.

Man City signed defender Laura Wienroither on loan on deadline day, but the Austria international will be ineligible to face her parent club in Sunday's contest.

Bunny Shaw could come into the starting lineup after returning from injury to make a substitute appearance in last weekend's 4-2 victory.

As for the visitors, Victoria Pelova remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Lina Hurtig and Caitlin Foord are both doubts for Sunday's away trip.

Defender Katie McCabe will serve a one-match ban after being sent off in the closing stages of the narrow defeat to Chelsea.

Chloe Kelly will be ineligible to face her parent side after she recently joined Arsenal on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Manchester City Women possible starting lineup: Yamashita; Casparij, Aleixandri, Knaak, Ouahabi; Roord, Hasegawa, Miedema; Park, Fowler, Shaw

Arsenal Women possible starting lineup: Van Domselaar; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Williamson, Catley; Litte, Cooney-Cross; Mead, Maanum, Caldentey; Russo

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We say: Manchester City Women 1-1 Arsenal Women

The two sides will both be desperate to take maximum points from Sunday's contest, but we think that they could cancel one another out and draw for the second time this season after playing out a 2-2 scoreline in September's reverse fixture.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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