FAWSL 2019/20: Tottenham Hotspur Women vs Manchester City Women – tactical analysis

The FAWSL made its long-awaited return this weekend and brought some great matches along with it. Arsenal Women and Chelsea Women got back to winning ways with 2-0 and 3-1 wins respectively on Sunday. This meant it was crucial for Manchester City Women to find their form and keep up in the race for the title.

Tottenham Hotspur Women find themselves in the middle of the table as we head into the second half of the season. There have been some massive positives to take from the campaign thus far, while there is still some room for improvement that will leave managers Juan Amoros and Karen Hills confident that they can continue to improve and start to challenge higher up the table.

In this tactical analysis, we will take a look at City’s 4-1 win over Spurs this past Sunday. The Manchester side were on top form, executing their tactics to perfection during the match. This analysis will break down their structures and also look into the bright spots Spurs can take moving forward.

Lineups

In this match, Cushing made a couple changes to his side. Campbell came in for Stokes at left-back, and on the right side, Bremer was included next to White at the expense of Wullaert. The second striker’s inclusion in the side gave a big hint at the attacking intent Manchester City were coming into this match with. While the image shows a 4-4-2 formation for the visiting side, they never fully worked in this structure. For the most part, Cushing’s side worked in a 4-3-3. However, instead of having a natural right-winger, Bremer and White played in a two-striker set-up and Beckie was given the space to move up and down the right side.

For Spurs, they lined up much similar to the side that faced off against Arsenal Women. Davison was brought in on the left side. Green and Peplow were used as a double pivot in their 4-4-2 system that were tasked with working tirelessly both attacking and defending. Up top, Dean was partnered by Graham and looked to get into the channels behind City’s attacking fullbacks.