City Women Face Charlton Test
Manchester City Women will look to extend their flawless start to the Women's Super League season when they face Charlton Athletic in Southeast London this weekend.
Andrée Jeglertz's side have won all three of their WSL matches so far, scoring 11 goals in the process. Victories over Birmingham City and Aston Villa have helped them set the early pace, and they now face a Charlton team still searching for their first point of the campaign.
Charlton, managed by Karen Hills, have lost all three of their league games. They have conceded four goals in each of their home defeats to Liverpool and London City Lionesses, and shipped another four in Wednesday night's League Cup clash with Brighton at Broadfield. That match saw Hills make ten changes, with striker Gillian Kenney the only player to keep her place.
Jodie Hutton is the only Charlton player to have scored this season, and goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse is likely to be busy against a City attack that has been ruthless in front of goal.
City's perfect record was maintained last Friday night at Joie Stadium, where they beat Liverpool 3-2. The score was 2-2 going into injury time before an own goal put City in front, and Lauren Hemp secured the victory late on.
Jeglertz's side also showed their European pedigree on Tuesday night, fighting back from 2-0 down to earn a draw with Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener. Kerstin Casparij scored an own goal on the half hour mark at Sportpark Unterhaching, and Beth Mead halved the deficit on the cusp of half time. Carlotta Wamser then fired home a late equaliser.
This week coming up, City host Real Madrid in Europe and then Arsenal in the WSL, but first they must navigate this trip to the capital. Vivianne Miedema remains sidelined, so Bunny Shaw will continue to lead the line, looking to add to her 30 club goals since the start of last season.
For Charlton, this is their first season back in England's top division since 2008. They secured promotion in May following a goalless draw with Leicester City, which they won on penalties, sending the Foxes down in their place. But the step up has been brutal so far, with the Addicks losing their last two matches 4-1 and 4-0.
City will be expected to take all three points, but Jeglertz will be wary of any complacency as his side enters a busy period.