Manchester City Women will be aiming to clinch their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions when they play host to Reading Women on Wednesday.
The Royals, in contrast, are winless in their last five matches across league and cup competitions, with their previous four Women's Super League games yielding just a single point.
Match preview
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Man City have won their last two league games, but they cannot afford to rest on their laurels as they hunt down Champions League qualification.
Sitting in fifth position, the Citizens are five points adrift of their local rivals Manchester United, who are currently sat in third place.
The Citizens, however, do have a game in hand over Marc Skinner's side, but with seven matches left to play, Man City cannot afford any slip-ups.
On Sunday, Gareth Taylor took his players to North London for a league contest with Tottenham Hotspur, and a second-half strike from Caroline Weir ensured that City returned home with all three points.
Tuesday's hosts will be aiming to continue their impressive home form after winning four of their last five home matches in all competitions, with City keeping three clean sheets across those contests.
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Reading, who sit in seventh place, could move level on points with Man City if they win on Wednesday, although their recent form suggests a win will be a tough ask.
The Royals have lost three of their last four league matches, and what will concern Kelly Chambers is that her side conceded 11 goals in those three defeats.
The latest loss came at the weekend when Reading lost 3-1 at home to Man United, with all four goals occurring in an action-packed first half.
Leah Galton put the visitors in front before Deanne Rose levelled for the Royals, but Man United took control thanks to Galton's second goal and an Alessia Russo effort, condemning Reading to defeat.
Having kept just one away clean sheet in the WSL this season, Chambers will be challenging her side to offer more defensive resilience on the road.
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Team News
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Vicky Losada has missed City's last two games due to injury, and she remains a doubt for Tuesday's contest.
Meanwhile, Chloe Kelly is nearing a return from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but the midweek encounter may come too soon for the England international.
Weir will be looking to continue her impressive form after scoring four goals in Man City's last three matches.
As for the visitors, they could be without Natasha Dowie and Amalie Eikeland after the pair both missed Saturday's contest.
Despite losing to Man United, the Royals could name an unchanged lineup for the trip to Manchester.
Rose scored her fourth league goal of the season at the weekend, and she will be one of Reading's main goal threats on Wednesday.
Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Roebuck; Bronze, Kennedy, Greenwood, Stokes; Walsh, Stanway, Weir; Raso, Hemp, White
Reading Women possible starting lineup:
Moloney; Bryson, Cooper, Evans, Woodham; Troelsgaard, Vanhaevermaet, Rowe, Harding; Rose, Harries
We say: Manchester City Women 2-1 Reading Women
Man City will look to take advantage of a Reading side that are bereft of confidence, and we think that the hosts will have too much quality for their visitors on Wednesday as they bid to claim a fifth consecutive victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester City Women win with a probability of 74.76%. A draw had a probability of 15% and a win for Reading Women had a probability of 10.19%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester City Women win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.08%) and 3-0 (9.03%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.87%), while for a Reading Women win it was 1-2 (3.05%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Manchester City Women in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Manchester City Women.
