Manchester City Women will look to maintain their unbeaten start to the season when they welcome Bristol City Women to the Joie Stadium on Sunday.

The Robins, meanwhile, are still searching for their first points of the season after losing their opening two Women's Super League matches.

Match preview

After missing out on Champions League qualification last term, Man City have seemingly used that disappointment as motivation for the opening two league matches of the 2023-24 campaign.

The Citizens began the season with a 2-0 away win over West Ham United, before they produced a battling display in last weekend's home meeting with reigning WSL champions Chelsea.

Man City were in control of proceedings following Chloe Kelly's early opener, but the contest turned on its head when Alex Greenwood received a second yellow card in the 38th minute.

While Gareth Taylor's side showed great determination to keep Chelsea at bay, their task became all the more difficult when Lauren Hemp received her marching orders in the final 10 minutes, and it ultimately led to their resistance being broken by Guro Reiten in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Nine-player Man City may have been denied maximum points last Sunday, but they managed to return to winning ways in midweek, as goals from Jess Park and Bunny Shaw guided them to a 2-1 away victory over Bristol City in the League Cup.

The Citizens will now turn their focus to Sunday's meeting at the Joie Stadium, where they will have the chance to extend their unbeaten home run in the WSL to 21 matches.

Bristol City have found it tough going in their first two WSL games since winning promotion from the Championship last term.

After losing 4-2 at home to Leicester City on the opening day of the season, the Robins fell to a 3-1 defeat in their away meeting with Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

The Robins conceded three first-half goals against the North London club, before Amalie Thestrup pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 64th minute to add a degree of respectability to the scoreline.

Bristol City would have also been frustrated with Wednesday's League Cup meeting with Southampton, which resulted in a 1-1 draw and a penalty-shootout defeat, ensuring that their Championship opponents took home the bonus point.

Although Bristol City will be determined to pick up a positive result this weekend, they will have their work cut out against Man City after losing 8-1 and 6-0 when they faced the Citizens in the FA Cup and League Cup respectively during the 2022-23 season.

Team News

Demi Stokes remains sidelined for the hosts, while Leila Ouahabi will serve the final game of her three-match suspension.

After serving their respective one-match bans in midweek, Greenwood and Hemp will return to the lineup this weekend.

Shaw, who made her first start of the season on Wednesday, is expected to feature in a front three alongside Kelly and Hemp.

As for the Robins, Lauren Smith has confirmed that goalkeeper Fran Bentley is likely to miss the next few weeks with an injury.

Forward Abi Harrison remains unavailable for the visitors, while defender Jess Simpson is unlikely to be involved.

Having scored in Bristol City's opening two league games, Thestrup will look to continue her impressive start to the season when she features up front on Sunday.

Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Keating; Morgan, Kennedy, Greenwood, Aleixandri; Angeldahl, Hasegawa, Roord; Kelly, Hemp, Shaw

Bristol City Women possible starting lineup:
Marckese; Powell, Aspin, Murray, Layzell; Napier, Morgan, Rodgers, Connolly, Jones; Thestrup

We say: Manchester City Women 4-0 Bristol City Women

Bristol City have struggled defensively in their opening two league matches, and we think that the newly-promoted side will be swept aside by the attacking talent at Man City's disposal.

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