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Manchester City have the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and Chelsea and Arsenal in the WSL table this weekend when they host struggling Reading.
City moved up to second in the standings last Sunday night, thrashing West Ham and taking advantage of the fact that neither London giant played due to Champions League commitments.
Come this Sunday evening, City will have played three games more than Chelsea and two more than Arsenal, but could have four and six point cushions respectively.
Meanwhile, Reading are fighting for their WSL status at the bottom of the table. They gave up a 2-0 lead to lose against Everton last weekend, have won just a single league game so far in 2023 and have only taken four points from the last 27 available to them.
The Royals could even be bottom and in the relegation zone by the time they kick off in Manchester if Leicester have managed to beat Liverpool at home a day earlier.
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City will be hoping to have Ellie Roebuck back in goal after she did a limited warm-up ahead of the West Ham game and was only on the bench, although Khiara Keating did a good job standing in.
But both Sandy MacIver and Laia Aleixandri have been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Deanne Rose is getting closer to a return. Lily Woodham missed Wales’ game against Portugal earlier this month through injury and didnt feature against Everton last weekend. Jade Moore, on loan from Manchester United, was another player absent from that game.
Unlike Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, there is nothing else to focus on for Manchester City in the final month of this season. That may be a disappointment in some ways, but it should ensure that their attention is blinkered on the WSL without additional distractions or fatigue.
Reading did frustrate City until the second half of the reverse fixture in Berkshire back in October, which eventually finished in a 3-0 win for the visitors. But there is nothing to suggest that Kelly Chambers’ Royals will take anything from this game.
City made a blistering start to beat West Ham 6-2 a week ago and could do similar here.
Prediction: Man City 4-0 Reading
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Fara Williams and Girls on the Ball take at the look at the WSL title race in 90min Talks.
