Manchester United Women are undergoing their final preparations ahead of their WSL season-opener next Sunday.
The Red Devils oversaw one of their most successful campaigns to date last term; a second-placed league finish after a tightly-contested title battle with Chelsea, runners-up in the FA Cup and qualification for the Champions League, in which they’ll make their debut next month.
Attendance across the women’s game is only growing with each season and you can expect to see more of the Old Trafford faithful turning up to Leigh Sports Village across the forthcoming term to show their support to Marc Skinner’s side.
Numerous Reds spent their summer competing in the World Cup, including finalists Katie Zelem, Ella Toone and Mary Earps – the latter of which was heavily linked with a summer exit to Arsenal before deadline day but thankfully, United were able to keep hold of the world-class shot-stopper. England were one of the major favourites to lift the trophy in Australia, according to ExpressVPN, but unfortunately fell short at the final hurdle with a 1-0 defeat to Spain.
United then oversaw some exciting transfer business when they acquired World Cup winner Irene Guerrero, who is fresh off the back of lifting the lucrative trophy.
Club action is the focus now though, and the Reds have already overseen a promising pre-season; wins including a 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, 3-1 against rivals Liverpool and a 1-0 versus Everton. They drew 2-2 to Leicester City but sustained their only defeat to Bayern Munich in a 3-2 loss.
Skinner has urged his side to be more ruthless in the final third after watching their displays across the friendlies and has set a clear target of how to improve on the pitch. He told MUTV following the Everton game: “With the ball, I thought we were ruthless up until the final third and then we need to be a little bit more ruthless in the box.
“But I can’t moan about the chances created. We spoke at half-time about punishing them when they give us the ball, or when we force them to give us the ball,” he continued.
“I think we could have been a little bit better than that. But it’s about trying to get minutes in legs. As they get fitter they will be better at that. If we press like that, and set that standard throughout the whole season, then we’ll build on that stat from last year of being the best pressing team in the country.”
United ready to kickstart 23/24 term
The season-opener is against Aston Villa. Kick-off is at 12.30pm and away from home, so the side will be tested from the get-go in 2023/2024.
United’s maiden Champions League outing is penned in for October 10 against Paris FC. WSL giants Arsenal were knocked out of the tournament early doors, so United will certainly be fancying their chances of going the whole way.
The two sides, United and Arsenal, will face off in the league on Friday, October 6 in what’s set to be a blockbuster clash in Manchester.
