Manchester City is set to host Tottenham Hotspur in week three of the FA Women’s Super League this Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET. The game will be one of the two matches live-streamed through NBCSports.com and NBC Sports App for viewers in the U.S.
Sunday’s clash between bottom-dwellers Birmingham City and third-place Chelsea will also be available on NBC’s streaming platforms, beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The remaining four games will be available on the FA Player for U.S. audiences.
FA WSL Matchday 2 recap
Manchester City is in sixth place after an unconvincing 2-0 win over FA WSL debutant Aston Villa on Matchday 1 and a 0-0 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion. The +2-goal differential has the Citizens level with Brighton and under Manchester United that has a +3.
On the other hand, Everton finds themselves in second place after winning their opening two games against Bristol City and Tottenham. The Toffees are yet to concede a goal and will face Aston Villa on Saturday’s lone game, starting at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Arsenal is notorious for stomping on lower-caliber opposition and the Gunners did so in the first two weeks of the competition. In week one, they thumped Reading 6-1, and in week two, they dismantled West Ham 9-1. As a result, Arsenal sits in first place of the FA WSL table with a +13-goal differential.
Match of the Week: Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur
Man. City and Tottenham last met on Jan. 5, 2020, and it was the Citizens who came on top in a 4-1 away win. The two sides met twice in recent history and Manchester City took the two wins by a combined score of 7-1.
Manchester City
Gareth Taylor is still working on getting his Manchester City squad to reach its full potential. Two unconvincing results to start the WSL season have resulted in Man City entering Matchweek 3 in sixth place. However, a strong performance in the Women’s FA Cup semifinal that saw them beat current FA WSL leaders Arsenal 2-1 on Thursday will give Manchester City the confidence it needs to get back on track in league play.
The Citizens have not lost a league match at home since April 2018 and drawn five matches since.
Tottenham Hotspur
The Spurs have made the headlines of newspapers, magazines and online publications for weeks now after USWNT star Alex Morgan joined the team from the Orlando Pride. However, they have not performed up to par on the pitch so far in the season.
With the arrivals of Australia's Alanna Kennedy, Canada's Shelina Zadorsky, amongst other promising signings during the offseason, Karen Hill and Juan Amoros’ side were expected to be of a good. But things have not panned out after drawing their first game to West Ham and then falling to an Everton side that has impressed so far in the campaign.
Finding a point or a win at Academy Stadium would be a step in the right direction for the Spurs, but that will be difficult given Man City’s strong record at home.
Talk of the Week: Sky Sports set to secure FA WSL broadcast rights
Sky Sports is expected to secure the rights of the FA WSL from next season after the broadcaster made a substantial offer that might see them take all the coverage from BT Sport.
Reports of the expected deal came just weeks after NBC, owned by Sky’s parent company, Comcast, acquired the rights to broadcast England’s topflight women’s league in the United States. Sky Sports grew interested after the FA developed a new strategy to increase revenue with the help of Women’s Sports Group, a rights management specialist agency.
FA-controlled women’s football club and national team fixtures were made available for the 2021-22 campaign and beyond for the first time. Sky are believed to have outbid other broadcasters for most of the packages, according to Telegraph Sport. However, Sky Sports are not commenting on the matter at this time.
The FA had never tried to sell the rights of England’s first division women’s league since the launch of the Women’s Super League in 2011. The rights for the competition were given to BBC and BT Sport for free, with the broadcasters covering production costs with the goal to find the largest possible audience for potential TV rights revenue.
After a wave of top-tier transfers made their way into the FA WSL and the FA finally attempting to monetize the television rights for the league, Sky Sports wants all-in. More than two million people tuned in to watch BBC’s Women’s Football Show after the sport made its return from its absence due to COVID-19.
