🏏 Sun, 14 Sep 2025 12:00 BST
Leicester City Women
vs
Liverpool Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
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- Liverpool's engine room runs through Fuka Nagano, a mainstay of Japan's national team. The 26-year-old came through Urawa Reds Ladies and has since played for Hyundai Steel Red Angels, Chifure AS Elfen Saitama, Mynavi Sendai Ladies and North Carolina Courage in the NWSL. At 160cm she relies on precise passing, tactical intelligence and a high pressing workload rather than physique.
- Nagano faces a Leicester midfield with far more mileage. Emily van Egmond, 32, has 163 caps for Australia, won back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Wolfsburg and was part of the side that lifted the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Beside her, 31-year-old Celeste Boureille brings the ball-winning and positional discipline she developed across 71 appearances as a holding midfielder for the Portland Thorns.
- A second Japan international waits on Liverpool's bench in right-back Risa Shimizu. The 29-year-old moved from Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza to West Ham and then Manchester City, and arrived at Liverpool on loan from City. Quick to overlap and stubborn in one-on-one defending, her introduction would raise the prospect of two Japanese internationals on the pitch at once.
- There is a clear experience gap between the goalkeepers. Leicester's Janina Leitzig is a 183cm German who joined permanently after a loan from Bayern Munich and was voted the club's Player of the Year, using her frame to dominate her area. Liverpool go with Faye Kirby, a young keeper still building her top-flight minutes, and how she copes with early pressure could set the tone.
- Leicester's back line is strikingly international. In the centre are Sari Kees, the 24-year-old Belgium defender who began her career as a goalkeeper before converting to centre-back at OH Leuven, and Julie Thibaud, 27, a France-schooled defender who made her name at Girondins de Bordeaux. Alongside them, 23-year-old Asmita Ale, an Aston Villa academy product who arrived via Tottenham, is known as the first player of Nepalese heritage to turn professional in England's top division.
- Leicester are led by captain Sam Tierney. The 26-year-old centre-back holds the club's all-time appearance record and scored the goal that sealed their promotion to the WSL, having previously played for Sheffield United and Doncaster Rovers Belles. Her leadership and relentless work rate make her the emotional anchor of this side.
- Liverpool's defence has a new figurehead of its own. Grace Fisk, 27, signed from West Ham, was appointed captain in September 2025 and offers physicality and organisation at centre-back. She is flanked by 178cm Scotland international Jenna Clark, 23, and 34-year-old Gemma Bonner, a veteran of Manchester City, Chelsea and Racing Louisville FC who is now in her second spell on Merseyside.
- Liverpool's attack has a distinctly Scandinavian flavour. Beata Olsson, the 24-year-old Sweden forward signed from Kristianstads DFF, and compatriot Cornelia Kapocs, 25, who joined in 2024, both spent time with the Florida State Seminoles in American college soccer. Linking them is Marie-Therese Höbinger, the 162cm Austria playmaker, 24, developed at SK Sturm Graz and SKN St. Pölten.
- Leicester's spark comes from Hannah Cain. The 26-year-old Wales winger, 165cm and left-footed, earned her first professional contract at Everton before establishing herself in the WSL. Her trademark is cutting inside from the left to shoot, and how often she can get at Liverpool's right side will shape the home side's chance count.
- Both benches carry late-game weapons. Leicester can call on Jutta Rantala, the 25-year-old Finland striker who debuted in her country's top flight at 14 and was named both leading scorer and Player of the Year in 2019, plus 180cm Morocco international Rosella Ayane, 29, and Republic of Ireland winger Heather Payne, 25. Liverpool counter with Sophie Roman Haug, the 176cm Norway forward who scored a hat-trick at the 2023 World Cup.