West Ham United Women will travel to the King Power Stadium for a meeting with Leicester City Women on the final day of the Women’s Super League season.
The Foxes will attempt to end a four-game winless run in Saturday’s fixture, while the Hammers will be looking to bounce back from a defeat to Aston Villa.
Match preview
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Leicester are languishing in 11th place in the WSL table after winning four, drawing five and losing 12 of their 21 league matches this term.
While they will be disappointed with their lowly position, the Foxes are guaranteed to extend their WSL stay into a fifth consecutive season, courtesy of their seven-point gap to relegated Crystal Palace.
Despite securing safety, Leicester will still be hungry to finish the campaign with a victory, especially as they have gone four games without a victory, including a dramatic 2-2 draw in their final away game of the season against Palace last weekend.
The Foxes appeared set to claim a 2-1 victory when Shannon O’Brien found the net in the 94th minute, only for Abbie Larkin to score an equaliser in the eighth minute of stoppage time to extend Leicester’s winless away league run to 16 matches (D5, L11).
They will now return to the King Power Stadium, where they have lost just one of their previous six WSL games, although the only defeat in that period took place in their most recent home outing against Manchester City.
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West Ham will be satisfied with their efforts this term, having already bettered last season’s 11-point tally by eight points to leave them in seventh position in the WSL standings.
The Hammers will surpass last year’s 11th-place finish, while they could still move into the top half of the table, with just two points separating them from Liverpool in sixth position.
West Ham recently put together a five-game unbeaten run before their impressive run of form was brought to an end by last Sunday’s narrow 3-2 defeat against Aston Villa.
Shekiera Martinez and Riko Ueki found the net to establish a 2-1 lead at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, only for Rachel Daly and Chasity Grant to turn the game in Villa’s favour, condemning West Ham to their first defeat since the start of March.
The Hammers will certainly fancy their chances of taking something from Saturday’s contest, having avoided defeat in each of their last five competitive meetings with Leicester (W3, D2), including a 1-0 victory in November’s reverse fixture.
Team News
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The Foxes are expected to be without the injured quartet of Sari Kees, Ruby Mace, Jutta Rantala and Noemie Mouchon.
Leicester boss Amandine Miquel has confirmed that Lena Petermann remains unavailable for selection, meaning the striker will not play a single game this season due to injury.
Shana Chossenotte and O’Brien are pushing for recalls after coming off the bench to play over half an hour against Palace.
Meanwhile, the Hammers are unable to call upon the injured Jessica Ziu, while Li Mengwen has returned to China to play in the National Games.
Dagny Brynjarsdottir was a notable absentee for the defeat to Aston Villa, making her an obvious doubt for the final match of the season.
Martinez will be hoping to continue her fine form in Saturday’s fixture after netting 10 goals in 11 WSL appearances this season.
Leicester City Women possible starting lineup:
Leitzig; Ale, Thibaud, Swaby, Nevin; Tierney, Cayman; Cain, Momiki, Chossenotte; O’Brien
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Szemik; Denton, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Hanshaw; Siren, Gorry; Piubel, Ueki, Asseyi; Martinez
We say: Leicester City Women 1-2 West Ham United Women
West Ham have won three of their previous five games against Leicester, and with that record providing inspiration, we think the visitors will edge out the Foxes to finish the season with a narrow victory.
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