WSL team news: Kirby could be missing against Everton

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Albion head to Goodison Park on Friday night.

Olivia Jackson

2026-01-23T10:10+00:00

Chris Roberts takes charge against his old club at Goodison Park tonight. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Albion face Everton for the second time this season at Goodison Park tonight, kick-off 7pm.

Chris Roberts’ thoughts

Ahead of the game, interim head coach Chris Roberts spoke to the media. “It has been an extremely challenging time at the club, for staff and players, after Dario (Vidosic) decided to take a period of leave for private family reasons but I was really proud of the group in our FA Cup game against Nottingham Forest.

“The team handled the threats that came our way in the game, were comfortable on the ball and had a lot of possession. We got the job done with two goals, a clean sheet and a place in the next round.

“Goodison Park is a historic venue and our previous games against Everton have always been good challenges. Our opposition are tactically very strong; it should be a great game.”

Team news

Roberts said, “Fran Kirby has an ongoing issue at the moment and she could possibly be out of the game. Other than Fran there is nothing new to report injury wise."

Previous meeting

Albion beat the Toffees 1-0 at Broadfield Stadium in September thanks to a 26th-minute goal by Michelle Agyemang.

Stats and facts

Everton have won just one of their last five Women's Super League home games against Albion (D1 L3), most recently losing 1-0 at Broadfield Stadium in September.

Kiko Seike became the first player in WSL history to score a hat-trick on their debut, this was against Everton in September 2024.

Everton have won just one of their last five WSL home games against Albion (D1 L3), winning 2-1 on the penultimate matchday of the 2022-23 campaign.

Neither Albion nor Everton managed to win both WSL meetings with the other across their first six top-flight seasons together (2018-19 to 2023-24), but the Seagulls will be aiming to do so for the second successive campaign having won each of their last three league matches versus the Toffees.

Only West Ham United (9) have lost more WSL games this season than Everton (8), who could lose three in a row for the second time this season – the Toffees didn’t suffer three straight defeats at any point last term.

Albion have already lost two league games this season despite taking the lead – including last time out vs Aston Villa (1-2) - but the Seagulls have never lost three separate matches from a winning position in the same WSL campaign.

Everton are currently on their longest losing streak at home in the Women’s Super League (5 games), going 1-0 behind in the opening 30 minutes in four of those five. The Toffees have won their opening home league fixture in three of the last six calendar years (D1 L2), but not since 2023 (3-2 vs Reading).

Since the start of last season, no side have scored more goals following an opposition error than Brighton in the Women’s Super League (12, level with Manchester United), while this season only Arsenal (6) have netted more times following a high turnover than the Seagulls (3).

Everton (28.3%) and Albion (32.0%) have spent the lowest proportion of their total game time in a drawing position in the WSL so far this season. Meanwhile only Chelsea and Manchester City (4 each) have conceded fewer first-half goals than the Seagulls (5), while only West Ham United (12) have shipped more goals in the opening 45 minutes than the Toffees (11).

During this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League league phase, only seven midfielders played more passes into the penalty area than new Albion signing Olaug Tvedten (23), with FC Twente’s Jill Roord (26) the only midfielder to record more for a team from outside of Europe’s big five leagues (Tvedten signed from Valerenga).

Fuka Tsunoda scored on her first start in the WSL on MD12 against Aston Villa and the only player to score on their first two starts in the top-flight for Albion is Michelle Agyemang. Meanwhile, no Asian player has ever netted on their first two starts in the competition.

Everton's last line-up