‘It’s about focusing on us’ – Hayes previews Chelsea’s meeting with Manchester City | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that her side’s focus is on themselves going into this afternoon’s fixture against Manchester City at Kingsmeadow.

The game sees two of the expected title challengers go head-to-head in just the second round of matches in this season’s Barclays Women’s Super League.

Manchester City are known for their exciting attacking talent with The Cityzens expected to line-up with a front three of Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly and Khadija Shaw. Gareth Taylor’s side are arguably a more dangerous prospect than they were last season but Chelsea are only focusing on themselves according to manager Hayes.

“You have to treat every opponent with the utmost respect because they have quality throughout,” Hayes said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “I think for us, the number of times we have played them, we might have had the most wins but I think they were improving their performances with every game that they played against us last year. I think that will give them confidence.

“We are at home but if you spend so much time worrying or thinking about the opposition, you can put that worry and anxiety into your own players. It’s about focusing on us, getting us right and our game plan right. If you execute that, you have a good chance of competing.

“Gareth (Taylor) is a good manager, look at the way that he led his team in the second half of last season. This will be two top teams playing this weekend and I am sure that everyone knows that.”

Hayes was critical of her side’s performance as they slipped to a shock 2-1 defeat at Liverpool last weekend and she has demanded better implementation of her methods this afternoon.

She said “What we’ve been talking about internally in terms of how we want to control the game has to improve. There’s a demand from me that I want to see our team implement what we work so hard on in training.

“We know that there are two top teams on show and I’m sure you want the advert of a nine-goal thriller but I hope it’s a little more dull than that. It’s a sell-out crowd and I am sure that both teams will create great entertainment.”

Chelsea’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester City kicks-off at 4pm.