🏏 Sun, 7 Sep 2025 12:00 BST
Liverpool Women
vs
Everton Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- The WSL season opens with a Merseyside derby, and it doubles as a showcase for Japanese talent. Fuka Nagano starts in Liverpool's midfield with right-back Risa Shimizu on the bench, while Everton field Japan internationals Honoka Hayashi in midfield and Rion Ishikawa at the back. Four Japanese players in one opening-day derby is a rare sight in English football.
- Nagano is the metronome of this Liverpool side. The 26-year-old central midfielder arrived via Urawa Reds Ladies, Incheon Hyundai Steel, Chifure AS Elfen Saitama, Mynavi Sendai and NWSL side North Carolina, and at 160cm she relies on precise distribution and relentless running rather than physicality. Alongside Northern Ireland's Sophie Carr and Wales international Ceri Holland, she must set the tempo early.
- The most intriguing duel is Japanese against Japanese in central midfield. Everton's Honoka Hayashi is only 157cm but has anchored their midfield since joining from West Ham in the summer of 2024, and she scored the goal that ended Chelsea's 34-match unbeaten run. Hayashi's ball-winning against Nagano's playmaking will effectively decide who controls the middle third.
- Everton hand a derby debut to 22-year-old centre-back Rion Ishikawa, who joined this summer from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa Reds Ladies in her first move abroad. At 172cm she is a genuine duel specialist and has gone straight into the starting XI. Facing Sweden's Cornelia Kapocs and Austria's Marie-Therese Hobinger will be a proper test of how quickly she has adapted to the WSL.
- Liverpool also have Japan regular Risa Shimizu in reserve. The 29-year-old right-back came through Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza before spells at West Ham and Manchester City, and she is at Liverpool this season on loan from City. Quick and forward-thinking down the right flank, she is exactly the kind of substitute who can change the geometry of the game late on.
- Everton left-back Maz Pacheco returns to face a former club. The 27-year-old built her WSL career at Reading and Doncaster Rovers Belles before a spell with Liverpool, and her pace and delivery from the left remain her calling cards; she earned a first Philippines call-up in 2024. Goalkeeper Emily Ramsey, also a former Liverpool player, is on the Everton bench, giving the visitors two people who know the red side well.
- Liverpool's forward line is stacked with internationals. Sweden's Cornelia Kapocs, 25, joined from Kristianstads DFF in 2024 and can operate centrally or wide, while 162cm Austria international Marie-Therese Hobinger brings the technical polish she developed at Sturm Graz and SKN St. Polten into the attacking midfield role. Young English striker Marie Enderby joins them in the attacking unit.
- There is serious firepower on Liverpool's bench. Sophie Roman Haug, 26, scored a hat-trick at the 2023 Women's World Cup for Norway and brings the physical presence and aerial threat she honed at AS Roma. Beside her sits 24-year-old Sweden international Beata Olsson, who like Kapocs came through Kristianstads DFF. In a tight derby, either could be the decisive change.
- Everton's back line features 20-year-old Spanish centre-back Martina Fernandez, a Barcelona academy product who won back-to-back U-19 European Championships and signed permanently in the summer of 2025. Left-footed and comfortable building from deep, she is protected by Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan, 29, whose WSL experience spans West Ham and Tottenham.
- Everton's attack runs through 29-year-old Netherlands striker Katja Snoeijs. She moved to England after spells at PSV and FC Twente, scored seven WSL goals in 2022-23 and wore her country's No. 9 shirt at the 2023 World Cup when Vivianne Miedema was absent. Her hold-up play will be tested by Liverpool's centre-back pairing of 34-year-old Gemma Bonner and captain Grace Fisk, 27.