‘Arsenal ooze class but you never know,’ hopes Liverpool’s Rachael Laws

Rachael Laws is always diligent about doing her revision. Liverpool’s goalkeeper routinely studies video clips of future opponents, reminding herself of a striker’s little idiosyncrasies, a penalty-taker’s quirks and whether a goalscoring midfielder favours their left foot or their right.

Yet when it comes to preparing for Sunday’s FA Cup tie at home to Arsenal, Laws knows homework can take Matt Beard’s side only so far. “They ooze class from back to front,” she says. “The players on their bench would be automatic starters in most WSL teams. We’ve been watching clips of them this week but it isn’t just about stopping Vivianne Miedema, there’s Kim Little, Nikita Parris, Beth Mead, Jordan Nobbs …” Even so, the Women’s Super League leaders would be unwise to underestimate a Liverpool side 10 points clear at the top of the Championship and coached by the manager who led them to successive WSL titles in 2013 and 2014.

Things rather fell apart when, in 2015, Beard crossed the Atlantic to take charge of Boston Breakers but he is now overseeing a fine rebuild on Merseyside, which has reunited him with Laws. In 2013 the goalkeeper helped Liverpool win the league during a stint on loan from Sunderland and Laws, who has 10 clean sheets already this season, is keen to reacquaint herself with the elite.

“In the classroom and in meetings we’re doing everything we can to prepare and hopefully my revision can help but it’s also about imposing our game on Arsenal,” she says. “If we do that, you never know what might happen.” Events at Prenton Park on Sunday afternoon should also serve as a litmus test of Liverpool’s potential. Few doubt that Laws, the recipient of an England call-up in 2014, is capable of thriving in the top flight, but