View: Beard must axe Liverpool Women’s ace after what she did v Manchester City
Matt Beard must drop Cornelia Kapocs from the starting lineup after her abysmal Liverpool Women’s performance in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City.
Khadija Shaw showed the gulf in quality between the sides at Anfield on Sunday [13 October] as she scored two second-half goals, including a 94 minute winner, to cancel out Olivia Smith’s first-half strike.
The Reds started the match well and relied on a moment of magic from the 20-year-old forward as she unleashed an effort from outside the box past Ayaka Yamashita to give her side an unlikely lead.
Kapocs was non-existent for Liverpool and Beard must seriously consider whether he wants to risk selecting the Swedish international against Crystal Palace next Sunday [20 October].
Cornelia Kapocs needs to step up for Liverpool Women
Liverpool prepared for the match against Manchester City knowing that three points would kickstart their Women’s Super League campaign and send a statement of intent to the rest of the league.
It had looked like the match was going according to script. However, the Reds crumbled after Shaw was granted a slice of luck as her header bounced past Rachel Laws, levelling the tie for the visitors.
Beard has not been shy about his desire to see his side become more clinical in front of goal this season, and his side turned a corner in the 3-2 win against Tottenham last weekend but reverted to type in the face of superior WSL opposition.
Kapocs arrived in the summer alongside Smith to inject much-needed goals into this Liverpool side and help Beard improve on last year’s fourth-placed finish to go and challenge Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
As per Sofascore, the 24-year-old failed to register a single shot, completed only eight passes, and lost possession nine times at Anfield.
Her performance was anything but expected of her when she completed her move from Linkoping, and she is trailing far behind Smith in the pecking order at the Reds.
Regardless, Beard must find a way to get his side to click before the clash against Crystal Palace, and with Gemma Bonner and Smith potentially joining Sofie Lundgaard on the treatment table, it will not get any easier for Liverpool moving forward.
In other Liverpool news, the Reds can’t let ‘fantastic’ Trent Alexander-Arnold exit Anfield in the summer.
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