WSL preview: Albion host Everton in league opener

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Albion take on the Toffees at Broadfield Stadium in Dario Vidosic's first match in the WSL on Saturday.

Heather Miller

2024-09-20T18:00+01:00

New signing Nikita Parris trains ahead of Saturday's WSL opener. 📷 Paul Hazlewood.

Dario Vidosic's view from the dugout

“Everyone's training really well. We'll assess everything and then we'll make the tough calls about who we believe is the best 11 to take to the field.

“We will need everyone, especially early in the season. Everyone's been pushing really hard in training this week.”

Previous meetings

Elisabeth Terland scored twice in Albion's 2-1 win against Everton last season.

Albion have sealed two wins and there have been two losses in our last four meetings with the Toffees. In our opening game of the 2023/24 campaign Elisabeth Terland’s double earned AlbioN A 2-1 win, but we then lost in April at the Amex by the same score.

Player to watch

Veatriki Sarri in action against Everton at the Amex in April. She joined the Toffees during the summer.

Striker Veatriki Sarri will be making a return to Broadfield Stadium following her departure at the end of the season. The Greek international made 53 appearances for Albion and scored six goals across two seasons.

Stats and facts

Albion and Everton will meet on on the opening day for the second WSL season in succession with the Seagulls beating the Toffees 2-1 away from home last season.
Neither side has ever recorded back-to-back wins in this fixture in 12 previous top-flight matchups (4 wins each, 4 draws).
Albion have won their opening game of the Women's Super League season in three of their last four campaigns (L1), however, four of their last five league victories overall have come away from home.
Everton have suffered more WSL defeats on the opening day of the season than any other side (7) and could become the first team in Women's Super League history to lose four such matches in a row (excluding Spring Series).
Only relegated Bristol City (P11 L11 - 0 points) won fewer points at home in the 2023-24 WSL season than Albion (P11 W1 D2 L8 - 5 points). Albion lost each of their final five home matches last term.
Everton ended the league season on a four-game unbeaten streak (W2 D2), their longest of the campaign, and the Toffees could go five without loss in the WSL for the first time since October 2020.
Dario Vidosic will be the sixth person to manage Albion in the WSL with two of the previous five winnings in their first game in charge of the club (Amy Merricks, Melissa Phillips).
Everton only rescued two points from losing positions in the WSL last season, the fewest of any side. In fact, the Toffees have only won one of the last 29 league games that they've fallen behind in (D3 L25).
Albion's Fran Kirby has been directly involved in five goals in eight WSL appearances against Everton, scoring in both of her last two starts against the Toffees. The England international scored 63 league goals across her ten seasons at Chelsea with only Vivianne Miedema (80) and Beth England (74) netted more times in the competition overall.
Everton's Megan Finnigan scored more goals than any other centre-back in the 2023-24 WSL season (3) while only Katja Snoeijs (10) has scored more league goals for the Toffees under manager Brian Sorensen than the centre-back (5).