🏏 Sun, 4 Oct 2026 14:00 BST
Everton Women
vs
Birmingham City W
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Everton, seventh on six points, host 12th-placed Birmingham City, who have two. The hosts have won two and lost two of four matches while scoring only twice and conceding three, a goal difference of minus one from a remarkably low-event start. Birmingham have drawn two and lost two but have been far busier at both ends, scoring six and shipping ten. Four points separate them going in.
- Everton's run reads L-W-W-L: a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on the opening day, a 1-0 home win over Charlton, another 1-0 victory away at West Ham, and a 2-0 loss at Liverpool in the Merseyside derby last time out. Birmingham's L-D-L-D sequence began with a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, followed by a 2-2 home draw with Brighton, a 2-0 loss at Chelsea and a chaotic 3-3 at home to Crystal Palace.
- Everton's front two in their 4-4-2 is the key pairing. Zara Kramzar, 20, is the first Slovenian to play in the WSL, a two-time Serie A champion with Roma who arrived in February 2026 on loan with an obligation to buy. Beside her is Japan international Yuka Momiki, developed at Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza, who reached Leicester via the United States and Sweden before arriving at Everton as a free agent, and whose close control and final ball could be the fix for a side that has scored twice in four games.
- All four of Everton's Japanese players are involved. Honoka Hayashi, 28, anchors the midfield; she joined from West Ham in the summer of 2024 and scored the goal that ended Chelsea's 34-match unbeaten run. On the bench sit 23-year-old centre-back Rion Ishikawa, a 172cm defender who left Urawa Reds Ladies for her first move abroad, and left-back Hikaru Kitagawa, 29, a left-footed overlapper who arrived via BK Hacken in the summer of 2025.
- Birmingham have a Japanese contingent of their own. Asato Miyagawa, born in 1998, starts in the double pivot. A Beleza graduate who reached England via Hammarby in Sweden, she is one of the few players with experience of both the Japanese league and European football. Behind her is 22-year-old Suzu Amano, signed permanently from Vaxjo in August 2026 and a runner-up at the 2022 Under-20 Women's World Cup, who is reunited with her former Hammarby team-mate.
- Two Everton starters face a former club. Ruby Mace, 23, an England international comfortable at centre-back or in the holding role, spent time at Birmingham as well as Manchester City and Arsenal before joining from Leicester for a club-record fee in September 2025. Defender Hannah Silcock, 22, also came through spells at Birmingham, Blackburn and Liverpool before arriving on Merseyside.
- The reunion cuts both ways. Birmingham centre-back Millie Turner, 30, previously played for Everton as well as Manchester United and Bristol City; at 178cm she offers aerial command and composed distribution, and she has been capped by England. Greek forward Veatriki Sarri, 28, who has played WSL football for both Brighton and Everton, waits among the substitutes.
- Birmingham's lone striker in their 4-2-3-1 is 20-year-old Chancelle Effa Effa. A Le Havre academy product who made her senior debut at 15, she scored five goals in 20 French top-flight games last season before a move worth over £100,000 in August 2026. She has 17 goals in 28 games across France's youth teams and won the 2023 Under-17 European Championship. She faces an Everton defence that has conceded just three times, marshalled by England Under-23 centre-back Naomi Layzell, 22.
- Both benches carry pedigree. Everton can turn to Aurora Galli, 29, the first Italian to play in the WSL and a four-time Serie A winner with Juventus, Australia international Clare Wheeler, 28, who featured at the 2023 World Cup and the Paris Olympics, and former Melbourne City forward Holly McNamara. Birmingham start Canada international Marie Levasseur at left-back, signed from Montpellier in July 2026 with 18 caps to her name, with Northern Ireland defender Rebecca Holloway held in reserve.