🏏 Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:00 BST
Liverpool Women
vs
Everton Women
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- A Merseyside derby with the table tight. Everton are fifth on six points from three games (two wins, one defeat), Liverpool seventh on four from a win, a draw and a defeat — just two points between them. The routes there could hardly be more different: Liverpool have scored seven and conceded five, Everton have scored two and conceded one. With Manchester City on 12 points from four, neither can afford to drop off.
- Liverpool have swung between extremes. They thumped Charlton 4-0 away on the opening weekend, drew 1-1 at home with Tottenham, then lost 4-2 away at league leaders Manchester City. Taking two goals off the runaway leaders says plenty about the attack, and seven goals in three games is among the better returns in the division.
- Everton have ground out their points instead. A 0-1 defeat away at Crystal Palace was followed by a 1-0 home win over Charlton and a 1-0 win away at West Ham. Both victories were single-goal clean sheets, and just one goal conceded in three matches points to a side that has settled on defending well and taking what little it gets.
- Two Everton players line up against a former club. Hannah Silcock, 22 and born in 2004, starts in the back four having previously been on the books at Liverpool Women, Blackburn and Birmingham City. On the bench is Maz Pacheco, the 28-year-old left-back who built her WSL experience at Liverpool and Reading; a law graduate, she received her first Philippines call-up in 2024.
- With both sides in a 4-2-3-1, there is a direct Japan-international subplot. Fuka Nagano, 27, anchors one half of Liverpool's double pivot: at 160cm she relies on precise passing and tactical reading to control the tempo, and she has become the beating heart of this midfield. Everton's left-back is 29-year-old Hikaru Kitagawa, a left-footed attacking full-back whose overlapping runs and crossing accuracy will be a direct counterweight to what Nagano builds.
- Everton have two more Japan internationals in reserve. Honoka Hayashi, the 28-year-old holding midfielder who joined from West Ham in summer 2024, once scored the goal that ended Chelsea's 34-match unbeaten run. Centre-back Rion Ishikawa, 23, made her first move abroad from Urawa Reds Ladies and brings 172cm of physical presence in duels — and Nagano herself once played for Urawa Reds Ladies, adding another thread for Japanese viewers.
- The deep midfield battle may settle the rhythm. Liverpool pair Nagano with McLean, signed after a spell at Rangers Women in Scotland. Everton counter with Clare Wheeler, the 28-year-old Australia holding midfielder who played at the 2023 World Cup and the Paris Olympics, alongside 23-year-old Ruby Mace, signed from Leicester for a club-record fee in September 2025. Mace can operate at centre-back or in midfield and has previous spells at Manchester City and Arsenal.
- Liverpool's Swedish forward pairing is worth watching. Striker Beata Olsson, 25, and Cornelia Kapocs, 26, share an almost identical path: both came through Kristianstads DFF and college football in the United States with Florida State and Florida. Everton lead the line with 20-year-old Zara Kramzar, the first Slovenian to play in the WSL, who won back-to-back Serie A titles with Roma before joining on loan with an obligation to buy in February 2026.
- The goalkeeping contrast is stark. Liverpool's Ciara Keating, 21, came through the Manchester City academy and was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024. Everton have the far more experienced Courtney Brosnan, the 30-year-old American-born Republic of Ireland international whose career has taken in West Ham, Tottenham and the Houston Dash.
- Both benches offer international quality. Everton can call on Aurora Galli, the 29-year-old Italian who won four straight Serie A titles at Juventus and arrived as the first Italian woman to play in the WSL, plus Australia forward Holly McNamara, signed on a free from Melbourne City. Liverpool have Austria attacking midfielder Marie-Therese Höbinger, 25, formerly of Sturm Graz and St. Pölten, and 23-year-old Sweden right-back Alice Bergström, who came from BK Häcken.