Taylor: City must take three points against Chelsea

Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor has stressed the importance of “taking maximum points” ahead of Sunday’s clash with defending Women’s Super League champs Chelsea. 

City are currently third in the table, two places and two points behind the Blues, who sit at the top. 

Neither side has lost a WSL game since last September and City’s last league defeat came against Chelsea at Kingsmeadow. 

But with seven league games left in this term, the title and a spot in next season’s Champions League are still up for grabs.

And Taylor, 50, insists his side are aware of the challenges the leaders pose. 

He said: “We know the importance of the game, we worked so hard to get ourselves into this position. 

“Obviously, it’s tough opposition in front of us. A side that had a successful result away at the European champions [Lyon] in midweek, so we understand the challenge in front of us. 

“But we are confident in what we do in terms of imposing ourselves on the game. 

“We also know it’s really important for us to take maximum points from this game. 

“It’s a really important one for us to win to be able to continue our challenge this season. 

“We have to win every game — 21 points takes us to 56. That’s what Chelsea won the league with last season. 

“Chelsea can go to 61 if they win all their games. So it just goes to show, if we win this game at the weekend nothing changes. We have to win the one after and the one after that. 

“The margins are so tight. We’ve lost two games this season, two draws. Arsenal have done that, [second-placed] Manchester United have done that. 

“Chelsea are the only ones who have only dropped five points, so it’s so tight. You’ve got to win all your games, it’s as simple as that.”

Sunday caps off Women’s Football Weekend and other fixtures include bottom-of-the-table Leicester facing a tricky test against in-form Aston Villa, who are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions. 

The fight for survival also sees second-bottom Brighton travel to Reading. 

And Chelsea manager Emma Hayes believes the themed weekend is becoming “a real hit”. 

She said: “Women’s Football Weekend is becoming a staple on the calendar.

“I think having these weekends in men’s international breaks has been a real hit in the WSL.

“We’re looking forward to build on the previous weekends and looking forward to hopefully see record numbers come out.”