The lowdown on Man Utd | Roos Schelen

Our final Barclays Women’s Super League game of 2025 sees us make the trip up to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon (2.30pm UK).

Ahead of our trip to Leigh Sports Village this weekend, which is the first of two back-to-back games against United, we spoke to Roos Schelen, writier for The Halfway Line, to give us the lowdown on Marc Skinner’s side…

United returned to winning ways at the weekend, how would you sum up their first half of the campaign?

Roos: “United started their campaign very strongly with quite a few wins, including holding Arsenal and Chelsea to draws at Leigh Sports Village. During that period, they were quite strong in defence, but we saw that backline struggle a lot against Man City’s attack in mid-November. They lost the Manchester derby by three goals to nil before United also lost their match to Aston Villa a week earlier, which means they now sit third in the WSL table, one point ahead of Arsenal and Spurs and seven points behind league leaders Manchester City. A key issue for the Red Devils, in my opinion, is managing the squad in times where games come thick and fast, with them being in the UEFA Women’s Champions League as well.”

Phallon Tullis-Joyce has really made her mark in goal for United, replacing Mary Earps. What do you make of her?

Roos: “Tullis-Joyce is just a phenomenal goalkeeper, isn’t she. Not only is she a great shot stopper, she’s so athletic, but to add to that, she controls her area so well. It’s no mean feat to step into Earps’ footsteps, but Tullis-Joyce has just gone and done it – and very well too.”

The summer transfer window saw Jess Park arrive at United - how has she fared in a red shirt so far?

Roos: “Park has been one of United’s key players so far this season, which is massive when you consider she just joined the club. She plays on the right but Skinner gives her the freedom to invert and link-up play there and, at times, she’s more like an extra attacking midfielder for them. She doesn’t shy away from taking the shot herself either and has already scored four this season. She is definitely one to look out for this weekend. Skinner has called Park their ‘superstar’, by the way!”

Who else would you keep an eye out for in this game?

Roos: “Another player on that right hand side, Jayde Riviere. Where Park inverts, full-back Riviere makes overlapping runs into the final third. But don’t be fooled by her attacking intents, her recovery pace is really good and she’ll likely catch up! If you’ll allow me to name two players here, I would also like to point to Maya Le Tissier. Her consistency is just unbelievable; she actually completed a century of consecutive starts for United. She can pick out some nice passes, which Spurs need to be aware of."

How do you see this game panning out?

Roos: “It could be a very tight game with the two teams being so close together in the table. Spurs have not had a game in midweek, while United have dealt with OL Lyon in the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Wednesday. When they lost to Manchester City last month, United looked fatigued – they had just played a midweek game against Paris Saint Germain and City had all week to prepare. Of course, United will show up at Leigh Sports Village giving it their very best, but you can’t deny Spurs have an advantage here. If Spurs manage to catch United on the break, which is one of the Red’s weaknesses, they really have a chance of winning the game.”