Everton Ladies goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis is hoping her side can put an end to Liverpool’s title defence when the two sides clash in the Merseyside derby on Thursday.
The Toffees find themselves bottom of FA WSL 1, having only managed to pick up two points from their eight matches so far.
Their city rivals, however, have enjoyed contrasting fortunes and find themselves second in the League and locked in a battle for the title.
Everton v Liverpool
FA WSL 1
7.30pm, Thursday 4 September 2014
Select Security Stadium
But Brown-Finnis believes Everton can dent the Reds’ title hopes and kick-start their own season in the process.
She said: “Derby matches always add a bit of spice to things.
“We have beaten and drawn with them this season and they have also beaten us.
“It has been a mixed bag but we are hoping to kick-start and keep building our confidence. We have already proved this season that we can beat Liverpool.
“They are on a hot streak at the moment; they have had the advantage of having fewer disruptions to their squad and still playing games, whilst our U20s have been away at the World Cup.
“We want to win badly and not just because they are Liverpool and pushing for the title, we just want to put an end to that hot streak.”
While Brown-Finnis believes her side have what it takes to hurt Liverpool, Matt Beard’s side have the comfort of knowing they beat the Toffees 1-0 during their last League meeting, in July.
However, Liverpool striker Kate Longhurst isn’t taking anything for granted this time around and wants the Reds to maintain their focus as they seek to claim their fifth FA WSL 1 win in six games.
She said: “Every derby game you have to take as it comes. The fans are always that bit noisier, there’s the pride of Liverpool at stake. You get a few extra tackles going in and I enjoy that side of the game. Everyone wants to win.
“We’ve got to work hard to win the game. We did that last time and have to put the same effort levels in again, because they beat us twice earlier in the season and we cannot afford a repeat.”
Longhurst continued: “We’re not getting ahead of ourselves and looking towards the title, or how many points we might need. We just have to take each game as it comes.
“I’ve had a bit of a stop-start season with a couple of injuries, but hopefully between now and October I can chip in with a few goals.”
