Oxford United will be hoping to achieve their third successive victory at home on Sunday, as they welcome Everton to Northcourt Road.
Recent successes over Durham and London Bees have seen the U’s rise to fifth place in the WSL 2, and they subsequently sit ahead of Everton by a single position and just one point.
The Toffee’s haven’t enjoyed such triumph in recent weeks, heading into the league tie following three consecutive defeats – most recently to Yeovil Town by a single goal at home.
Nonetheless, Oxford manager Les Taylor won’t take his opponents lightly, and will ensure his side will battle tirelessly for 90 minutes.
“We’re expecting a really difficult match,” he said. “Obviously they were a top flight side not long ago and they expect to go back up this season. All the matches are difficult at this level, but we expect this one to be more so.”
Oxford and Everton haven’t met since the 2012/13 season, and that FA Cup fifth round clash saw almost 1,000 supporters gather to watch the meeting. Everton cruised to a 7-0 victory, but should find it tougher just a few years later.
“A lot has changed since then, so we certainly don’t expect the difference to be that great,” Taylor added.
“They were obviously one of the better WSL sides back then, while we weren’t even in the WSL, we were going along well in the lower leagues. We were slightly overwhelmed that day, but this game will be a lot closer.”
Taylor will be without Laura Nichol who recently sustained a foot injury, but otherwise has a full selection, as his side will hope to climb to fourth in the table.
