Taylor provides Aleixandri and Layzell fitness update ahead of Liverpool trip | OneFootball

Gareth Taylor says Laia Aleixandri is available for selection for Manchester City’s trip to Liverpool in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

But he also revealed the Club will continue to monitor Naomi Layzell’s condition ahead of our visit to Merseyside.

The duo were taken off during the closing stages of City’s stellar 2-0 win over reigning European champions Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday.

Spaniard Aleixandri was replaced by Alanna Kennedy in the 90th minute meanwhile Layzell received treatment in stoppage time and couldn’t continue.

However, the Blues boss says it’s positive news for both players before our return to domestic action.

“With Naomi we just need a bit longer to assess, it requires a little bit of further investigation,” he revealed.

“But I think it’s positive compared to what we anticipated at first because it looked nasty how she reacted to putting her foot down on the ground.

“It’s a positive one in that respect that we don’t think it’s anything that will keep her out too long but we need longer for the medical team to assess her properly.

“Laia was fine, been asked quite a bit because of the action but it was a dead leg, she’s absolutely fine and was actually annoyed at me for taking her off.

"She’s okay and will come back into the team today.”

City lock horns with Liverpool on Sunday 13 September, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 (UK).

WATCH: Highlights: City 2-0 Barcelona

Like Taylor’s team, the Reds are also yet to taste defeat in the WSL in 2024/25 so far having won once and drawn twice.

The trip to Anfield comes just four days after our memorable triumph over Barcelona and the boss believes we’ll face another difficult opponent in Matt Beard’s side.

When asked in his pre-match press conference if Liverpool are title challengers he added: “I don’t see any reason why not.

“Sometimes you can see a team has the resource and the recruitment they've done and Matt Beard being there for a while now he's been able to established it in his way.

"Liverpool, Brighton and Aston Villa are probably showing more capability than what their points tally shows, so there’s real healthy competition in there at the moment.

“When I look at the calendar and ours and other team’s fixtures, it’s really difficult to see any fixture that is favourable. Everyone’s fighting so hard.

“We play a top level opponent, one of the best in the world the other night, and this game at the weekend is equally difficult for various reasons.”