Liverpool Women will look for their first win since September when they face Aston Villa in the Subway Players Cup at the BrewDog Stadium, St Helens, at 7pm tonight.
The Reds are coming off a 2-1 loss to Arsenal at Anfield in the Women's Super League and hope to turn their fortunes around against a Villa side that sits third in the Subway Players Cup table with 11 points from four games.
Controversial Defeat to Arsenal
The defeat to the Gunners was not without controversy, as Jenna Clark's goal was wrongly disallowed for offside at a point in the contest that would have seen Liverpool take a 2-1 lead.
Head coach Gareth Taylor's task will be to shake off the disappointment as his players welcome Villa, a team they met in the WSL less than a month ago, with Brian Sorensen's side coming out 2-1 victors at Keys Park.
Liverpool's last fixture in the Subway Players Cup was against rivals Manchester United, a 5-3 loss to the team that sit top of the table, despite a hat-trick from Cornelia Kapocs.
Taylor Reflects on Performance
In his latest column on the official Liverpool FC website, Taylor reflected on the defeat against Arsenal while looking forward to a "busy" week of football.
"Sunday was tough to take because I didn't feel we deserved to lose the game. You could see in the last 20 minutes we were the team that was really in the ascendancy. We took the game to Arsenal. They were really holding on at the end and had to defend for their lives," Taylor said.
"I think for us, for where we are and where we have been, and particularly with some key players missing, to be able to do that speaks volumes about the way we are taking this thing. Yes, we know we are in a difficult run at the moment with results but apart from the game at West Ham last week, I think our performance levels have been really good."
Disallowed Goal Frustration
The boss also commented on his side's disallowed goal that took the headlines in the game against the Gunners.
"I thought we were really unfortunate to not come in ahead at half-time instead of 2-1 down and that was frustrating with the disallowed goal," he said. "At half-time we kept to the positives and spoke to the players about the things we had done really well. We just needed to turn up the levels a notch."
"We had some good opportunities at the end, but we didn't take them. That was frustrating because I think on another day, we take a point or arguably even more," said Taylor.
The 53-year-old now continues preparation for two matches in quick succession, with a lengthy journey awaiting his side this weekend when they aim to end a five-game winless run in the WSL with victory at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Busy Week Ahead
"We now head into another busy week with Wednesday night's Subway Players Cup tie against Aston Villa at St Helens Stadium before we face the long trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday," he said. "There isn't much time to prepare and recover but at the moment I think the signs are good. I do believe performances have been good in general."
Taylor also believes the points return the Reds have received this season has been tough, highlighting matches against Tottenham, London City and their previous meeting with Aston Villa as potential opportunities for his players to get all three points that have just slipped away.
Liverpool currently sit eighth in the table on six points, occupying the last position for sides that can qualify to the next stage of the competition. With Nottingham Forest and Burnley Women being their final two matches of the opening six, the Reds have a good opportunity to advance further.
"If we can maintain those performance levels, I think it's only a matter of time before we get back to winning ways. We will get stronger in the second part of the season, and we'll start to see some good returns," said Taylor.
