Manchester City hoping to complete excellent start with victory over Aston Villa says Taylor | OneFootball

Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor says that victory over Aston Villa this weekend would complete what has been an excellent start for his side.

The Cityzens are currently top of the Barclays Women’s Super League table while they also have maximum points on the board from their two UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage matches.

It has been a good start to the season for Manchester City and head coach Taylor wants to complete the opening block of matches with victory over Aston Villa.

“Of course, it’s been a good start, there’s no doubt about that,” Taylor said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “We set the seeds in pre-season and from our review of last season in terms of what we wanted to do as a team moving forward and we were able to execute a really strong start to the season. We probably couldn’t have got much more of a difficult start if I’m honest but the way that the girls have handled it has been spot on.

“We are slowly getting into our rhythm and it has been great having the number of games that we’ve had. We are taking on a competition that we’ve not been in for a few years. The players are excited about dipping from a WSL game into a Champions League game then back into the WSL.

“We have a tough opponent on Sunday who I think are not getting the rewards in terms of points from their performances so far. They are trying to do some different things which is impressive and they have very experienced and recognised WSL players. It’s a tough game but we are pleased to be back in The Joie Stadium in-front of our fans. We are looking to finish [this block] with a strong performance, strong result then we can review and say it was an excellent start.”

Going on to discuss latest opponents Aston Villa in more detail, Taylor highlighted a couple of dangerous players that his side will need to be mindful of.

He said “They have quality at the top end of the pitch, in the midfield areas as well. Obviously, [Rachel] Daly and [Kenza] Dali are good players. They have pace in their team and they have good options in the back-line as well.

“They’re changing things slightly. They try to overload midfields a bit more this season than they have done previously. When they have a player like Daly, she’s always difficult to play against in the counter-attacks.

“Their performances from the football [they’ve played] and the players that they have is probably not shown in their points tally so far. We don’t underestimate any team, particularly this one.”

Manchester City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Aston Villa kicks-off at 12.15pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.