FAWSL 2020/21: Everton Women vs Manchester City Women – tactical analysis

Manchester City Women won 3-0 against Everton Women on Sunday in a match that witnessed three assists from Caroline Weir and goals from Ellen White, Janine Beckie and Gemma Bonner. This win was very important for the Citizens who beat their direct opponent in the standings and got close to the top three spots that guarantee Women’s UEFA Champions League qualification.

On the other side, the Toffees are now fifth just under Manchester City in the FAWSL standings and their loss in this game didn’t really help them and made their qualification campaign a bit more difficult even though the difference between both teams is just one point for the moment.

In this tactical analysis article, I will break down both teams tactics in attack and defence and show how Manchester City were able to be the better playing team in this match and how Everton were unable to get back in the match after conceding three goals. But first of all, the analysis will begin by presenting both lineups.

Lineups

Everton started this game with a 4-3-1-2 formation that included Sandy MacIver as a goalkeeper, Megan Finnigan and Damaris Egurrola as centre-backs, Ingrid Wold as a right-back and Danielle Turner on the left flank. The midfield was composed of three central midfielders who are Izzy Christiansen, Maéva Clemaron and Abbey-Leigh Stringer. Ahead of them we find Lucy Graham who played as an attacking midfielder just below Nicoline Sørensen and Hayley Raso, the two strikers.

On the other side, Manchester City played according to their usual 4-3-3 formation, relying on Ellie Roebuck as a goalkeeper, a defensive line made up of Gemma Bonner, Steph Houghton in central defence and Lucy Bronze and Demi Stokes on both flanks. In midfield, the team used Keira Walsh, Jill Scott and Caroline Weir as central midfielders while in attack Rose Lavelle played on the right-wing, Janine Beckie on the left-wing, and Ellen White was the team’s striker.

Everton’s effective pressing

The game started in a balanced way and both teams had equal chances of winning this match. And in the first part of the first-half, Everton’s high pressing was very noticeable and disturbed Manchester City in their build-up phase. As a result, we saw Manchester City defenders unable to neither advance with the ball freely nor pass to a free player since Everton’s pressing was always there and the players who contributed in it were very dynamic and attentive.

And by players we mean Raso, Sørensen and Graham who moved on the same line with the other two when out of possession. And you can see from this picture an example of how effective this pressing was, since in this action Houghton received the ball while being pressed and was obliged to give away a corner for the Toffees thanks to their continuous high press.