Key events
20 mins: A dangerous cross from Holland is sent into box but Turner does well to get ahead of Roman Haug to clear.
Down the other end, Riviere does some good work on the right and lifts a perfect cross for Toone but she angles her header wide.
18 mins: Zelem is about to take aim from the edge of the box but a fine tackle prevents her from shooting.
16 mins: Liverpool have picked it up in the past five minutes and turned this match into a competitive entity.
14 mins: Hinds collects a poor clearance from Earps around 35 yards from goal. She gets it out of her feet but then takes a dreadful shot that loops high and wide.
11 mins: A first Liverpool attack of note ends with Hinds collecting the ball in the United box. She takes aim for her shot is deflected wide.
Earps claims the corner but she takes out Parris in the process. The winger stays on the ground for a few seconds but gets up.
9 mins: United are thoroughly on top here. I think if they get another one quite soon, it could be game over for Liverpool.
7 mins: It is an energetic start from United. Liverpool are struggling to cope with the pace of United’s play and need to step things up.
Koivisto goes into the book for pulling down Galton.
5 mins: How has Malard missed that? A poor back pass is intercepted by the striker, she goes round Micah but loses her composure and hits the ball into the side netting, despite the goal being empty.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool (Toone, 3)
Galton latches onto a ball over the top and gets a shot away under pressure from Clark. It rebounds off the post but comes back to Galton, who gets the ball back to Toone, via the goalkeeper, and the midfielder does the rest from six yards.
2 mins: It’s been a pretty slow start with United dominating possession.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Marc Skinner: “We’ve made a few changes based on fatigued. We had a day less than Liverpool so we had a quicker turnaround. It is an important game against one of our most difficult opponents. We have to be at our very best today.”
England goalkeeper Mary Earps has said she thinks Nike know it was an “injustice” to not sell her shirt after the World Cup.
Sports Personality of the Year nominee Earps said she would “definitely like to think” Nike learned a lesson. After mounting pressure, the sports brand released her green long-sleeved Lionesses shirt, only for it to sell out in five minutes.
Asked on Sky News on Sunday if she thought Nike “learned a lesson”, she said: “Definitely. I would like to think so, I’ve been speaking to Nike quite a bit over the course of the year.
“On this topic, they know that they got this wrong and that’s why they’ve done this correction – a big company like Nike, they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t know it wasn’t right and that there was an injustice there.
“They did the right thing and, really, I can’t thank the public enough for their support and, really, we wouldn’t be in this position without it.
“I was really ‘um-ing and ah-ing’ whether to use my voice and to speak on it or not – I thought I was just speaking for a niche of goalkeepers, but it turned out to be support from a group of much wider group of people.
“I think from that, collectively, we’ve really changed the world, so thank you to everyone.”
More rumours have flown around this week in relation to Mary Earps’ future. His contract runs out in the summer and Arsenal are very keen. The Gunners tried to sign her in the summer but could not get a deal done.
“Of course, I want Mary to stay,” manager Marc Skinner said. “I have been very clear on that the whole way throughout. That’s the business side of the game and I deal with the football side.
“The club are working through with Mary on what the deal looks like.”
Yesterday in the WSL …
There’s never a bad time to read Karen Carney on women’s football and her review.
Starting lineups
Manchester United: Earps; Riviere, Turner, Le Tissier, Blundell; Ladd, Zelem, Toone; Parris, Malard, Galton
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Tullis-Joyce, Evans, Naalsund, Geyse, Garcia, Williams
Liverpool: Micah; Koivisto, Fisk, Clark, Bonner, Hinds; Nagano, Kearns, Holland; Lawley, Roman Haug
Subs: Spencer, Parry, Daniels, Lundgaard, Hobinger, Kiernan, Van de Sanden, Enderby, Flint
Preamble
It is a Manchester United and Liverpool double header today, beginning with this intriguing game at Leigh Sports Village.
United have won their previous four matches in all competitions, including a League Cup triumph over Liverpool, so are in confident mood. Marc Skinner will be eager to put distance between his side and Liverpool, who sit one place and three points behind them and on home turf is a sensible place to do it.
A win for Liverpool would indicate they progress they have made. They last trip the had to a potential title challenger say them dismantled 5-1 by Chelsea, making today a good one to indicate their credentials.
Kick-off: 12.15pm GMT
