Women's Super League: Five talking points including Manchester and London derbies

Manchester City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck will be hoping for a repeat of the first ever women's Manchester derby, which they won 1-0 at Etihad Stadium in 2019

The final round of Women's Super League games takes place this weekend as teams aim to finish the year on a high before the Christmas break halts the action until mid-January.

More than 40,000 tickets had been sold by Friday for the Manchester derby, which is one of two matches being held at Premier League stadiums and will begin with hosts City three points behind second-placed United.

Here are five things to look out for.

United to break derby duck?

Manchester United will attempt to beat Manchester City in the WSL at the sixth attempt in front of a crowd of at least 40,000 at Etihad Stadium.

"We've got a lot of Manchester United fans in our team, so there's a deep core of this being real for them," manager Marc Skinner said, calling himself "Manchester United through and through" in his broad Birmingham accent.

"Obviously I was born in Birmingham but, whenever I go to a team, I encapsulate and embody everything about the team I'm at," he added. "This is real for people."

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Skinner knows that starving WSL top scorer Khadija Shaw of possession will be key against opponents on a nine-game winning run in all competitions - and navigating the emotion of the occasion is just as important.

"Whoever strikes the balance right will control the game," he said, adding that nerves will be inevitable and pointing to United's win over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium and thrashing of Aston Villa at Old Trafford in their past two WSL games.

"It's probably the first fixture you look forward to on the schedule. It's huge and everyone knows it, but our players are getting used to playing on big occasions."

Villa relishing restorative break

Following their 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday, depleted Aston Villa can reassert their top-four ambitions when Arsenal visit Villa Park.

Manager Carla Ward is full of praise for a squad including WSL player of the month Rachel Daly, but has called the women's football calendar "absolutely ridiculous", questioning whether the Premier League would allow so little time between men's international and domestic matches.

Ward wants the physical and mental welfare of players to be paramount and strongly agrees with the reservations expressed by Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema, who took a break in November and is seeking to score for the fourth successive match.

"It's very important - it's the players' game," Gunners manager Jonas Eidevall said of the issue, emphasising the importance of players speaking out when they are struggling.

"We need a schedule that allows the players to express themselves. They should definitely be the most important when we are planning schedules and seeing how we are going to grow the game."

Eidevall and Ward shared glowing appraisals of their next opponents. "They're an unbelievable side who you enjoy watching," said Ward. "They're one of the best teams in Europe - with United, Chelsea and City, they're all up there."

Everton eye 'defining' games

Brian Sorensen was unimpressed to see Everton concede four first-half goals at Manchester United in the FA Cup on Wednesday, but the Toffees manager described the second half as "pure powerplay" from his side in their 4-2 defeat.

"We have to learn from it, be better and put in a 90-minute performance," said Sorensen, speaking before Everton's trip to play a Brighton team whose speed and build-up play he likens to Arsenal and Manchester United.

"There are four teams in this league that are on another level but we are not far behind them. If you look at the numbers behind it, we are probably the team who are closest to the top four.

"The next two games are going to define where we're going to be in the standings this season. If we lose, we're probably going to be stuck in the lower end and have to fight our way out of that."

A second win in eight home matches for Brighton would condemn Everton to a fourth consecutive defeat.

"We are the better team and we have to make sure we are full of confidence, take our chances and have the power and aggression we want over 90 minutes," said Sorensen.

London clubs share scrappy form

Tottenham's troubles in front of goal are "certainly not" an issue in training, manager Rehanne Skinner said as her players risk losing without scoring in three consecutive WSL games for the first time.

Skinner is all-too familiar with the kind of struggles West Ham have had in finding form this season. An uninspired attacking display at Reading has left Spurs three points behind the sixth-placed Hammers, who were comprehensively outplayed by Liverpool and have dropped the most points in the division - nine - from winning positions.

"We do a lot of really good work to get the ball through the pitch with quality into the final third," Skinner explained. "We've created a number of chances.

"On some days we've taken every one of them, and then on other days we've not been able to force it over the line - so it can get a bit frustrating for everyone in those situations.

"We're working on it diligently all the time and it's just a case of transferring from training to games."

West Ham have never won at Tottenham but could finish the year in fifth if they avoid a third consecutive WSL away defeat.

Harries hopes for Royals repeat

While Chelsea's Emma Hayes is targeting an 18th win in 19 WSL games, Reading's Emma Harries is still savouring one of the most memorable days of her life as the visitors target an upset at Kingsmeadow.

At the age of 20, Harries captained the club she joined as an eight-year-old in their home victory against Tottenham. Her sister accompanied Harries in the tunnel and her family were in the stands at the home of the men's team.

"It was just a 'pinch me' moment," said the striker, who spent eight months out with an ACL injury this year.

"Sunday was the perfect day. I believe it was a near-perfect performance - everyone did their jobs, put in a brilliant shift, and the score could have been bigger."

The Royals are winless in 10 WSL away games but seven points clear of danger. "Chelsea are a brilliant side and have got many high-quality players, which is why they are currently top of the table," said Harries, calling on Reading to "step it up".

"But we've shown before that, if we put in a good performance, we can be a good test for anyone."

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