The Bees are back on the road this weekend as they make the trip north to Farley Way Stadium to face Leicester City Women in FA Women’s Championship action.
We’ve compiled all of the information you need to know ahead of Sunday’s league clash, below.
Fixture: Leicester City Women vs London Bees
Date: Sunday 15th September 2019
Kick-Off: 14:00
Competition: FA Women’s Championship
Venue: Farley Way Stadium
London Bees
Form:
LWW
League Position: 4th
Top Scorer: Nikita Whinnett, Taylor O’Leary, Lauren Pickett
London Bees will have their tails up heading into Sunday’s game having come out the victors in their last two outings.
Following a difficult start to the season against City Lionesses, the Bees bounced back in impressive fashion to grind out a 1-0 win on their travels to Blackburn Rovers.
Back on home soil, Lee Burch’s side continued in the same fashion to secure a 2-1 win over Coventry United Ladies. Goals for Taylor O’Leary and Lauren Pickett were enough to secure all three points on the day.
Now three games into the new season, Burch has his side sitting in fourth position with an eye to move further up the table this weekend with a result at Farley Way Stadium.
Leicester City Women
Form:
LLL
League Position: 11th
Top Scorer: Libby Smith
The Foxes are yet to pick up a point so far this season having played out three losses since the opening day.
Having faced Durham, City Lionesses and Sheffield United, who all occupy a place in the top six of the league table, the Foxes will be determined to kick-start their season on their own patch this weekend.
However, their task has been made that much more difficult following the news that their mainstay in net, Chloe Lambourne, has been ruled out through injury.
Last Time We Met
The Bees have fond memories of facing the Foxes having come up trumps in their last two meetings.
Most recently in FA Women’s Cup action, the Bees overcame Leicester 2-0 on the road to progress to the Fifth Round of the famous cup competition – Katie Wilkinson and Rushea Littlejohn the scorers on the day.
Prior to that, London Bees came from a goal down to beat the Foxes 2-1 in the league. Wilkinson on the scoresheet again as well as Emma Beckett to ensure all three points were picked up at The Hive London.
Burch will be looking to make it three wins of the spin against Leicester this weekend.
One to Watch – Libby Smith
Smith has proved to be Leicester’s stand-out performer so far this season having scored two goals in the opening three games of the season.
Having joined the club aged just seven, Libby has worked her way through the Regional Talent System before she made the move to Chelsea’s Development side in the FA WSL Academy League.
Smith has also represented England at Under-18 level, in which she contributed to a fourth-place finish in the 2018 Women’s U17s UEFA Championship.
Returning to Leicester in January 2019, Smith could prove a significant threat for the Foxes as they look to pick up their first result of the season.
Talk
Lee Burch:
“Leicester haven’t started the best, but you’ve got to look at who they’ve played. They’ve played three teams who are arguably being tipped to win the title.
“I expect a real physical contest; they’ve got some good individuals. They will be looking at us and think, ‘this is the time to start our season’.
“We have to make sure that that’s not the case and we continue our run and put a nail into their coffin.”
Coverage
Live 90-minute match updates will be available through our official Twitter account @LondonBees as well as behind the scenes coverage across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Full match highlights will be available following the game as well as reaction from the management team.
