Celtic FC Women v Glasgow City – Match Preview and Elena Sadiku’s View | OneFootball

After that dreadfully disappointing Women’s Scottish Cup defeat at Hampden to theRangers on Saturday, Celtic FC Women will be determined to recover against Glasgow City as they return to the Excelsior Stadium. This game officially kicks off the final five games of the SWPL1 season and the Ghirls still lead the pack at the top of the table by two points ahead of theRangers.

And it’s the SWPL1 title that has always been the main target this season and Celtic are top with five games to play so it’s time to get the heads up again and players and supporters push us over the line to win this league for the first time ever.

Last time we met City, we beat them 2-1 at Petershill Park, keeping a clean sheet against the reigning champions for 90 minutes before Carlee Giammona salvaged a consolation. In our meeting before that, Fiona Brown’s freak goal within one minute proved to be decisive, but our 3-0 victory to knock them out of the Sky Sports Cup back in November swings the bragging rights in our favour.

Three victories for us and one for them when we faced off against them this season, so things are certainly looking positive for tomorrow night against the side that pipped Celtic to the title in the closing seconds of the season last year.

Elena Sadiku’s side will be looking to recover quickly after the weekend’s result saw us lose our grip of the Women’s Scottish Cup after back-to-back triumphs in 2022 and 2023.. After the game, both Elena and Kelly Clark acknowledged that the performance wasn’t good enough, so the team will be determined to make up for it this time around.

Team News

Amy Gallacher is back in action after she made her return at Hampden on Saturday. Although Elena admitted her mistake in playing Gallacher for 45 minutes when she could only play 30, it didn’t spark another injury, just tiredness.

I’d say that despite the result, we’re likely to see a similar line-up. Murphy Agnew could drop to the bench though after a lacklustre performance against theRangers. Kit Loferski was a huge miss at Hampden and will hopefully return after being left out completely for the cup tie. Elena hasn’t said she’s injured, so no clue what’s going on there, although some supporters were critical of her performance against Hearts at Celtic Park.

Manager’s View

No media conference ahead of this important game but Elena Sadiku did speak to Celtic TV on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the weekend’s disappointing performance at Hampden and to express the squad’s collective determination to put things right with a strong performance and good result against Glasgow City.

“We know that Saturday wasn’t our best performance, and it’s something that we don’t want to be perceived as the team who put in that performance at the weekend. So we just need to bounce back as quick as possible, and that comes with tomorrow’s game against Glasgow City,” Elena Sadiku told Celtic TV.

“We know that the game tomorrow will be an important game for us. We just need to focus on that game. What happens after it is not important right now. The most important thing is this game against Glasgow City.

“That’s the best part of it. We have five games left and we have important games ahead. So it’s just important that we have the focus on the games, and not the situation we are in. It’s the first time we as Celtic have been number one this late in the season, so it’s all about for us just trying to enjoy and trying to still perform the way we can and eventually it’s going to be three points.”

Glasgow City has somewhat fallen out of the title race and there only hope is to win all their remaining games and possibly hope that Celtic and theRangers draw next Monday. That might allow City to retain their title but it’s a tough ask and it very much looks like it’s now a two horse race between Celtic and theRangers.

Sadiku knows that defeat tomorrow effectively rules City out of the title race altogether so they will be going all out for the victory. They won’t be the only ones. Celtic will be desperate to win the match and then turn their attention to the massive match in Monday at Broadwood against theRangers.

“It’s will be a tough game, and they are a strong team,” Elena said. “We just need to make sure that we are ready because it’s going to be a tough game. That is something that we need to be prepared for. We know that it’s a huge game for them too because they need to make sure that they get three points, otherwise it is going to be a big gap.

“But for us, it’s just going to be about focusing on ourselves because we know that when we perform as a team, it’s going to be a tough game for all the opponents who are playing against us. We also need to be confident because we have been playing so well the last few games, expect for Saturday, so that shouldn’t affect us.

“So we just need to bounce back and that is the challenge for the players tomorrow.”

Supporter’s View

After the preview from the manager let’s switch it up a bit!

This is an important game, and we really need a win here if we want to go to Broadwood on Monday in a powerful position. Three points against City and we could afford a draw against theRangers. That could be incredibly important in the long run.

As everyone has been saying, five important games left. There is really no room for error and although the performance was bad at the weekend, like Elena has said, the girls can use that as fuel to go on and secure the SWPL title. What an end to the campaign it would be if we could celebrate with the trophy at Celtic Park. I’m sure that thought is in every one of the players’ heads, so they probably want it more than we fans do! Plus, our rivals could potentially win the treble. We’re still in a position to deny that.

Match Officials

Keiran Trayner takes the whistle at the Excelsior, with Kevin Totten and Lauchlan Dougall assisting him. Stuart Broadfoot has been named as the Fourth Official. No VAR, which is nice.

Kick-off Time

Celtic FC Women vs Glasgow City kicks off at 6:10pm at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. Tickets are available HERE.

Where to Watch

This game will be broadcast live on BBC Alba for those who can’t make it. If you can though, make sure to be at the Excelsior tomorrow evening so we can give the Ghirls the boost they need.

Score Prediction

Celtic 1 – 0 Glasgow City. I’d be lying if I said I was confident, but at the same time, I don’t think we’ll lose. I think that Glasgow City will look at Saturday’s game and try to take some of what theRangers did to nullify us on board. That’s why I don’t see a particularly large scoreline in this one. Three points is all that matters in the end anyway. Our editor reckons that it will be 3-1 to the Ghirls – hope he’s right!

COYGIG!

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