🏏 Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:30 BST
Tottenham Hotspur Women
vs
Manchester City Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Four Japanese internationals are involved in this one. Tottenham hand a start at centre-back to 19-year-old Toko Koga, who arrived from Feyenoord in July 2025 and went on to become the club's youngest-ever scorer, having started all four of Japan's matches at the 2024 Paris Olympics. City reply with Nadeshiko captain Yui Hasegawa and 21-year-old forward Aoba Fujino, with goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita among the substitutes.
- The central battle should decide the tempo. Hasegawa, a 157cm defensive midfielder who has already passed 100 appearances for City, controls games through positioning and passing accuracy rather than physicality. Spurs answer with Olga Ahtinen, a 75-cap Finland international and EURO 2022 participant who scored 15 goals at Brøndby, alongside Eveliina Summanen, the club's record WSL assist provider and their most creative passer.
- City's front two is about as daunting as the WSL offers. Vivianne Miedema is the division's all-time leading scorer and also the Netherlands' record goalscorer, finishing chances with unhurried intelligence. Beside her, Jamaica captain Khadija Shaw stands 180cm, strikes with both feet and dominates in the air — a serious problem for a Spurs back line of the 173cm Koga and former Paris Saint-Germain defender Clare Hunt.
- There is a reunion waiting on City's bench. Grace Clinton, 21, joined City via Manchester United but spent an earlier spell at Tottenham, and the England midfielder knows this opposition well. A technical central midfielder with a goal threat, she is exactly the kind of substitute who can tilt a congested midfield in the final half hour.
- Tottenham's goals run through captain Bethany England. The 31-year-old striker won both the WSL Player of the Year and PFA award during her Chelsea days before moving to Spurs in January 2023 for £250,000, then a domestic record fee. Her penalty-box instincts will be tested by City's centre-back pairing of Alex Greenwood, a 100-cap England international, and 20-year-old academy product Gracie Prior.
- Set pieces tilt towards the visitors. Greenwood, City's captain, takes the penalties, free-kicks and corners herself, and the 32-year-old left-footer brings experience from Lyon, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton. Her range of long passing also lets City bypass the press entirely and aim for Shaw, and Tottenham will know that the Greenwood-to-Shaw delivery is the most dangerous single pattern they face.
- Both flanks offer contrasts worth watching. Lauren Hemp, City's England left winger, overwhelms full-backs with pace and dribbling, and she lines up opposite Charli Grant, the Australia right-back who came through Adelaide United before spells at Rosengård and Vittsjö. On the other side, Leila Ouahabi — a five-time Liga champion and Champions League winner with Barcelona — must contain Jess Naz, the Enfield-born Spurs academy graduate with six England caps.
- The goalkeeping matchup pits youth against experience. City go with 20-year-old Khiara Keating, a 175cm academy graduate nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024, with Japan's first-choice keeper Ayaka Yamashita behind her. Tottenham field Lize Kop, the 27-year-old Netherlands international formerly of Ajax and Leicester City, compact at 173cm but sharp in her reactions and positioning.
- The benches could settle a tight game. City can introduce Kerolin, the 2023 NWSL MVP and a Paris 2024 silver medallist who uses both feet to beat defenders one-on-one. Tottenham are not short of options either: Maite Oroz was vice-captain at Real Madrid and made 146 appearances, the second most in the club's history, while Denmark winger Olivia Holst scored 25 goals in 47 games at Rosengård.