🏏 Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:30 BST
Everton Women
vs
London City Lionesses
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
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- This fixture pits two Japan internationals against each other at centre-back. Everton's No.3 Rion Ishikawa, 22, made her first move abroad from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa Reds Ladies and relies on her 172cm frame in duels. London City's No.8 Saki Kumagai began at the same Urawa club before winning 19 trophies at Lyon, including five UEFA Women's Champions League titles, and now captains Nadeshiko Japan with more than 162 caps.
- Everton can call on another Japan international from the bench in Honoka Hayashi. The 157cm midfielder, 27, came through Speranza Osaka and AIK before a spell at West Ham and a move to Merseyside in the summer of 2024, where she scored the goal that ended Chelsea's 34-match unbeaten run. A ball-winner with a tidy passing range, her introduction is one of the game's tactical levers.
- Nikita Parris returns to a former club. The 31-year-old England winger, who wore Everton colours earlier in her career, has since played for Lyon, Arsenal and Manchester City and was part of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022-winning squad. Top scorer for England in 2019 World Cup qualifying with six goals, she should test Everton left-back Maz Pacheco down the right flank.
- There is a strong Barcelona thread running through both squads. London City field World Cup 2023 winner Maria Perez in defensive midfield, Hana Fernandez, who made 94 appearances for the Catalans, and 19-year-old winger Lucia Corrales, signed for around £430,000. Everton counter with left-footed Spanish centre-back Martina Fernandez, 20, a back-to-back U-19 European champion whose strength is building from the back.
- London City's travelling side carries serious pedigree. Kosovare Asllani, 36, has 205 caps and 50 goals for Sweden plus a silver medal from Rio 2016, with Real Madrid, PSG and Manchester City on her CV. Elena Linari, the 31-year-old Italy centre-back, was named in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 Team of the Tournament. Waiting on the bench is Grace Geyoro, a 102-cap France international who scored 54 goals in 270 games for PSG.
- Everton's front line is a multinational mix. Toni Payne, 30, is a Nigeria winger who made 169 appearances for Sevilla and played at the 2023 World Cup; Kelly Gago is a 178cm France forward; Katja Snoeijs wore the Netherlands No.9 shirt at the 2023 World Cup and scored seven WSL goals in 2022-23. Gago's aerial presence, Snoeijs's link play and Payne's width give Everton three distinct ways to unsettle Linari and company.
- Everton's midfield pairs Denmark's Karen Holmgaard (176cm) with Australia's Clare Wheeler (163cm), two players who both spent time at Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark. Holmgaard brings height and physicality, Wheeler the legs and pressing that took her to the 2023 World Cup and the Paris Olympics. For Wheeler it is also a Matildas reunion of sorts, with 148-cap defender Alanna Kennedy among London City's substitutes.
- The goalkeeping and defensive picture is worth watching too. Courtney Brosnan, Everton's Republic of Ireland keeper, has WSL mileage from West Ham and Tottenham plus a spell at Houston Dash. Ahead of her, 22-year-old Ruby Mace, signed from Leicester for a club-record fee in September 2025, must show the versatility that lets her cover centre-back and defensive midfield alongside left-back Maz Pacheco, a Liverpool and Reading alumna.