Manchester United Women will take to the pitch for the first time in 2022 when they welcome Birmingham City Women to Leigh Sports Village on Saturday.
The hosts enter the fixture in fourth position, two points behind the Champions League places, while Birmingham head into the contest full of confidence after stunning the league leaders last weekend.
Match preview
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Following the postponement of their encounter with West Ham United last weekend, Man United will finally return to action on Saturday.
The aim for Marc Skinner's side is to finish in the top three, and with two points separating themselves and third-placed Tottenham Hotspur, United are firmly in the hunt for Champions League qualification.
They will be hoping to pick up where they left off after ending 2021 with three consecutive victories in all competitions.
If United are to move into the top three, they will need to improve at home, having collected just seven points from their five home league games.
Although, Taylor will also be looking for his side to continue their fine goalscoring form in 2022, with United failing to net in only one league game this season.
Meanwhile, Birmingham City will head to Manchester in a buoyant mood after they surprised Arsenal last weekend to win their first game of the season.
The feeling before last Sunday's encounter was that the Gunners would ease to a comfortable victory, but it transpired that Darren Carter's side had not read that script.
Libby Smith opened the scoring for Blues in the third minute before Veatriki Sarri struck before half time, and a goalless second half ensured that Birmingham claimed a 2-0 victory.
Those three points lifted the Blues out of the relegation zone, where they now sit a point clear of Leicester City who sit bottom of the pile.
After collecting their first clean sheet of the league season last weekend, Carter will now be aiming to improve Birmingham's away form, with the Blues looking to add to the single point that they have picked up on the road this season.
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Team News
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Manchester United will be without Lucy Staniforth, who is unavailable due to a knee injury.
In more positive news, Kirsty Smith, Carrie Jones and Jackie Groenen have returned to training following a spell on the sidelines, although the trio may not be fit enough to start on Saturday.
After starting United's most recent fixture on the bench, Kirsty Hanson could come into the side for the Birmingham clash.
As for Birmingham City, they are without Marie Hourihan who is missing through injury.
Emily Whelan is available after fulfilling the return to training protocols following a positive coronavirus test, although she may have to settle for a place on the bench.
Despite being on loan from Manchester United, Emily Ramsey is eligible to face her parent club.
Manchester United Women possible starting lineup:
Earps; Batlle, Mannion, Turner, Blundell; Zelem, Ladd, Boe Risa; Hanson, Toone, Russo
Birmingham City Women possible starting lineup:
Ramsey; Scott, Lo. Quinn, Lawley; Pennock, Murray, Sarri, Holloway, Finn; Smith, Lu. Quinn
We say: Manchester United Women 2-1 Birmingham City Women
Manchester United will know that Saturday's contest will be anything but comfortable after Birmingham claimed a memorable victory over Arsenal last weekend.
We believe that Birmingham will run their hosts close, but we think a well rested United team will claim a narrow victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester United Women win with a probability of 82.28%. A draw had a probability of 12.1% and a win for Birmingham City Women had a probability of 5.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester United Women win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.33%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (12.23%) and 1-0 (9.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (5.77%), while for a Birmingham City Women win it was 0-1 (2.1%). The actual scoreline of 5-0 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Manchester United Women would win this match.
