Alex Greenwood returns to Man City after injury to spice up WSL Manchester derby

Manchester City will aim to rebound from two losses on the bounce to overcome Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, November 19. But the fixture preparations come with a boost with co-captain Alex Greenwood returning from a nasty head injury on England duty last month.

“Alex is good. She trained the last couple of days, it’s good to have her back in. We missed her leadership in the last couple of games and the quality that she brings as well. Having her back is great. She’s gone through all her checks and is absolutely fine so is available for the weekend,” started City boss Gareth Taylor.

The 2023/24 campaign start can only be described as a turbulent one for City. Taylor’s side were top of the Women’s Super League standings just two weeks ago but since then, they’ve had back-to-back defeats and dropped down to sixth place, three spots behind weekend rivals United.

The Blues suffered a narrow loss against Arsenal at the beginning of the month - goalkeeper Khiara Keating had a stellar performance but mistimed the ball's bounce outside of her area to hand the Gunners a late win. And then last weekend saw City's impressive 27-game [in all competitions] unbeaten home record, crumble in a 1-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion - a game where City had 35 chances on goal but couldn’t find the net.

Taylor said: “I’m really happy with the way this team is playing. Our performances this season I think in all competitions that we’ve played we’ve had different challenges in front of us and I think in general the play has been good. Obviously, I think at the top end of the pitch is where we need to be more ruthless and finish off all of our opportunities that we create or make them into better opportunities in some cases.

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