12:36
5 mins: Filbey switches play well to the left, where Worm is scurrying forward. City recover possession and some patient possession play ends with an overhit pass forward. The hosts look the more comfortable on the ball already.
12:34
3 mins: Early warning sign for Spurs as Worm and Green contrive to give the ball away cheaply from a throw and City break in numbers. It amount to a corner, but Weir’s delivery is low and tame.
12:32
1 min: Ref Stacey Pearson blows her whistle, the players take the knee, and we’re away. Spurs look long for Davison but Steph Houghton wins a couple of early headers to cut out any danger.
12:28
City’s bench, with Gill Scott, Rose Lavelle, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway, is very good indeed. In the meantime – the teams are out.
12:23
Elsewhere in the WSL: Manchester United lead Brighton thanks to a clinical finish from young striker Ella Toone.
12:15
So Sam Mewis, the USA World Cup winner who scored her first goal in English football to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup in midweek, keeps her place at the heart of City’s midfield, while Georgia Stanway has to make do with a place on the bench despite her bright start to the season.
For Spurs, skipper Josie Green returns to the engine room in one of three changes from the side who took a pasting from their rivals last weekend.
11:59
Some pre-match reading – an interview with Alex Morgan, who watches on from the sidelines today:
11:47
Teams!
Tottenham: Spencer, Zadorsky, Green (C), Harrop, Filbey, Davison, Dean, Percival, Worm, Graham, Kennedy.
Subs: Martin, Leon, Addison, Quinn, Ayane, Godfrey, Neville.
Man City: Roebuck, Bonner, Houghton (C), Kelly, Beckie, Morgan, White, Weir, Mewis, Walsh, Greenwood.
Subs: Bardsley, Taieb, Stokes, Coombs, Scott, Stanway, Park, Bronze, Lavelle
11:40
Spurs need a lift. After an underwhelming start to their league campaign – a home draw with West Ham here, a defeat at Everton there – they were roundly walloped in the FA Cup last weekend, and by their locals rivals no less: four-nil to the Arsenal. Just as well, then, that they have the biggest signing in WSL history waiting in the wings.
But Alex Morgan will have to wait for her debut: she is still building up her fitness again having not played competitively for over a year. In the meantime her new teammates will have to prove their worth, not least Kit Graham, who gets the nod up front today and whose place will be most directly under threat once Morgan is in contention.
Manchester City, meanwhile, have vengeance on their mind, having been the first team in English football history to finish the season top of the league and yet see the title awarded to a rival. They’ve started the season with intent – three wins from fours – although they were frustrated by Brighton in their last WSL outing. The off-season has brought them a pair of shiny new full-backs from Lyon – namely England internationals Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood – as well as stellar midfielder Rose Lavelle, who made her debut in Thursday’s sinking of Arsenal. Up front, Georgia Stanway is hinting at the goalscoring form that made her so feared two seasons ago.
Plenty, then, for Spurs to ponder. Make a cuppa. Kick-off 12:30pm BST.