Birmingham City Faces Manchester City in WSL Opener

Birmingham City will walk back into the Women’s Super League with the hardest welcome of all – a trip to the champions, Manchester City – and Amy Merricks wants a fight, not a ceremony.

Two years ago, the Joie Stadium was the scene of Birmingham’s lowest point. A 6-0 defeat there in May 2022 sealed their relegation and sent them into a four-year stay in the second tier. On Sunday, at 14:30 BST, they return as WSL 2 title winners, promoted on the final day of last season and carrying a very different mood.

This time, Merricks is not talking about survival.

“I think it’s a great time to play Man City,” the Birmingham head coach said before the opener of the 2026-27 campaign. “We know it’s going to be a challenge but we are well and truly up for it. We are here to compete, not just make up the numbers.”

Manchester City did not drop a single point at home in the league last season. Eleven home games. Eleven wins. The Joie Stadium became a fortress during their title run, yet Merricks refuses to let that record shape her team’s mentality.

“Our focus is on ourselves, we appreciate and respect who they are and what they have, but our mindset doesn’t change.”

Blues won’t park the bus

Birmingham climbed out of the Championship playing on the front foot. They averaged 2.09 goals per game and built a reputation as one of the most adventurous sides in the division. Promotion often forces newly arrived clubs to compromise, to tighten up and sacrifice some ambition just to survive.

Merricks has no intention of doing that.

“There is a core part of our identity that is non-negotiable for us as Blues and myself as a head coach,” she said. “We are a progressive team, we will find ways to create and score. We are really clear on what our strengths are and what we need to maximise.”

She knows what awaits in the top flight. The pace is quicker, the mistakes punished, the margin for error tiny. She is not pretending otherwise.

“This is the best league in the world, it is going to be tough and a challenge, but what we can’t do is lose our strengths. We have to amplify those and put ourselves in the best position possible.

“We have to focus on what we can control and that’s how we can compete. We don’t fear anyone. I think we showed that in the cup competitions last year.”

That last line is not empty bravado. Birmingham pushed Manchester City hard in the Women’s FA Cup last season, forcing the eventual league champions into a scrap in the quarter-finals.

Jeglertz wary of Birmingham’s bite

Andree Jeglertz has not forgotten that day. Exactly five months before Sunday’s game, his side edged a 1-0 win away at Birmingham in the FA Cup, a tie that never allowed Manchester City to relax.

“We had a tough game against them last year,” the City boss admitted. “They were tactically very good and destroyed all the space on the field, defending low and their transitioning was very good. There are threats in their team we need to give attention to.”

Birmingham sat deep, clogged passing lanes and then broke with purpose. It was not the wide-open, free-flowing version of Merricks’ team, but it was smart and stubborn. Jeglertz expects that edge again – and something extra that comes with promotion.

“Playing against a team that is new in the league is always a challenge because I know they are coming in with a lot of energy in the first game.”

That energy meets a champion side beginning a very different kind of season. For the first time in a decade, Manchester City start a league campaign as defending champions, the team everyone else wants to topple.

Jeglertz is determined his players do not slip into a protective shell.

“We are still chasing, chasing to win again,” he said. “If you start protecting things, I don’t think that will help us. We need to be in a mood of hunger, trying to win again, to compete in different tournaments.

If we drop a little bit in performance or attitude, teams will go past us.”

Early injury tests for the champions

City’s title defence begins with some key absences. Forward Vivianne Miedema will not feature until at least late autumn because of a knee injury, removing a major attacking option from Jeglertz’s plans in the early months.

Defender Rebecca Knaak is also ruled out of the Birmingham game with a foot problem, trimming the defensive choices for the opener. There is better news elsewhere: defender Jade Rose and midfielder Grace Clinton have returned to training, offering depth as the season kicks off.

One big doubt remains. Summer signing Niamh Charles is, in Jeglertz’s words, “a big question mark” for Sunday, leaving City uncertain over whether one of their marquee additions will be ready in time.

So the stage is set. The champions at home, unbeaten there in the league last season. The promoted side that once crumbled 6-0 on the same pitch, now talking about going toe-to-toe and refusing to abandon their attacking identity.

Birmingham arrive with scars from that relegation day and momentum from a title win. Manchester City arrive with a crown to defend and a coach demanding they still act like hunters, not guardians. Only one of them will walk away feeling their message truly landed.