Birmingham have made a poor start to the 2015 season – recording 3 goalless draws and two defeats at the hands of Chelsea and Liverpool.
The Blues will be looking to secure their first win when they travel to Sunderland on Saturday.
The Lady Black Cats have surprised many since their promotion to WSL 1 and have already beaten Liverpool and Bristol Academy this year. England youngster Beth Mead has been key; the striker bagging an impressive 3 goals in 5 games already.
Birmingham, on the other hand, have managed only 1 goal between them in the league, which came in the 1-2 loss to Liverpool.
The West Midlands side have, to their credit, shown merit in defence, only conceding 3 times so far, including in the narrow defeat to league leaders Chelsea. Whereas, newcomers Sunderland have let in 8 goals in their last 2 matches, so Birmingham may fancy their chances of ending the goal drought this weekend.
Sunderland will give a late fitness test to midfielder Rachel Furness after the Northern Irish international missed the 2-4 defeat to FA Women’s Cup finalists Notts County.
Despite the visitor’s league position, Furness is expecting a tough battle. “Birmingham are a well-established side in the FA WSL. They were up there last season competing for the league title so we know that Saturday’s game will be a tough test.”
“Having watched Birmingham play this season they seem to be a very compact side who are solid defensively and hard to break down. They have not conceded many goals so we know that come Saturday we will need to be on the top of our game,” she added.
Birmingham are currently just two points above struggling Bristol Academy at the bottom of the table, and a massive 10 points behind title favourites Chelsea, who they went head to head with for the trophy last season. But the experienced Jo Potter believes her side can kick start their season with a win this weekend.
“If you look at what Liverpool did last year, they finished the first part of the season with six points. If we can get three points and give ourselves a chance, that would be great,” said Potter.
“It has been quite a frustrating season. We have limited teams to very few chances but not been able to take them ourselves.
“This weekend Sunderland are playing at home, so it’s going to be a tough game. As long as we just keep minimising teams’ efforts and chances, it is going to come for us. It is just a matter of time.”
