🏏 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 19:00 BST
London City Lionesses
vs
Manchester United Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
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- The 2026-27 WSL season opens with London City Lionesses unveiling their rebuilt squad at home. Grace Geyoro, the 29-year-old box-to-box midfielder with 102 France caps, arrived from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported world-record fee of around one million euros after 270 appearances and 54 goals as club captain. She starts alongside Delphine Cascarino, the France winger who spent nine seasons at Lyon and racked up 223 games, 45 goals and six Champions League titles.
- There is a heavy Barcelona accent to the Lionesses line-up. Alexia Putellas, 32, and Mapi Leon, 31, both arrived from the Catalan club, with Leon having also played for Atletico Madrid, while 20-year-old La Masia graduate Lucia Corrales joined for a fee of roughly 430,000 pounds after a loan at Sevilla and a senior Spain debut in March 2025. Maria Perez, a 24-year-old holding midfielder and 2023 World Cup winner, waits on the bench.
- Two reunions sit on the home bench. Mary Earps, the 33-year-old England goalkeeper, spent formative years at Manchester United before spells at Wolfsburg and Paris Saint-Germain, while Nikita Parris, 32, also has United on a CV that includes Arsenal, Lyon, Manchester City and Everton. Both were part of England's Euro 2022 winning squad and now face their former club from the London City dugout.
- Hinata Miyazawa starts on the right for Manchester United, and the 26-year-old is the headline Japanese presence in this fixture. The 157cm winger won the Golden Boot at the 2023 Women's World Cup and joined from Mynavi Sendai Ladies, and last season she was named player of the match after a spectacular strike in the Manchester derby. Her acceleration and close control give United a direct route into the final third.
- United's English core carries the identity of the side. Maya Le Tissier, the 24-year-old Guernsey-born centre-back who took the armband at 22, has been voted into the PFA WSL Team of the Year and organises the back line. Ella Toone, 27, is an academy graduate and Euro 2022 winner operating as the attacking midfielder, while Jess Park, 24, a Euro 2025 champion signed from Manchester City on a four-year deal in September 2025, also starts.
- The goalkeeping contest is a strong one. Phallon Tullis-Joyce, the 29-year-old United number one, stands 185cm tall, shared the 2024-25 WSL Golden Glove and kept 13 clean sheets in that campaign. Spain's Elene Lete, 173cm and known for her command of high balls, takes the gloves for London City, with Earps and her Manchester United past waiting in reserve.
- London City's defence is built on experience. Alanna Kennedy, 31, has more than 148 caps for Australia and was named MVP of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup after scoring five goals from the back. Beside her stands 21-year-old Isa Kardinaal, an Ajax academy product who debuted in the Eredivisie at 16 and won the 2022-23 title. They must handle Elisabeth Terland, the Norway striker who scored 13 goals for Brighton to finish second in the WSL scoring race.
- The midfield battle turns on Danielle van de Donk. At 35 the Netherlands playmaker still sets the tempo, having scored in the semi-final against England on the way to winning Euro 2017 and later played for Arsenal and Lyon. Manchester United counter with Julia Zigiotti Olme, the 28-year-old Sweden holding midfielder who won a Bundesliga title at Bayern Munich and built her reputation at Brighton and BK Hacken on relentless defensive work.
- United's back four is thoroughly international. Dominique Janssen, 31, captains the Netherlands and won the WSL with Arsenal and back-to-back Bundesliga titles at Wolfsburg, bringing ball-playing composure. Anna Sandberg, the 23-year-old left-footed full-back, arrived from BK Hacken for a record fee for a Swedish women's player, while right-back Jayde Riviere, 25, is an Olympic gold medallist with Canada from Tokyo 2020.
- Both benches could shape the closing stages. United hold back Lea Schuller, the 28-year-old Germany striker who was a Bundesliga top scorer at Bayern Munich before joining in December 2025, plus 22-year-old Sweden forward Ellen Wangerheim, a January 2026 signing from Hammarby. London City counter with Italy centre-back Elena Linari, 32, named in the Euro 2025 team of the tournament, and Poppy Pattinson and Freya Godfrey, both handed maiden England call-ups in February 2026.