Birmingham City Ready to Compete Against Manchester City
Birmingham City are back in the big time, and Amy Merricks is not interested in easing their way in. Promotion secured, title won, four years in the wilderness ended – and the reward? A trip to the champions.
On Sunday, the newly crowned WSL 2 winners walk into the Joie Stadium to face Manchester City, the side that hammered them 6-0 there in May 2022 and pushed them through the trapdoor. Same ground. Same opponent. Very different Birmingham.
“We are here to compete, not just make up the numbers,” Merricks said ahead of the opener of the 2026-27 campaign, insisting her team will go “toe-to-toe” with the champions.
From relegation scar to statement stage
That defeat four years ago felt like an ending. This one is being framed as a beginning. Birmingham arrive with momentum and an identity they refuse to dilute.
Last season they scored at a rate of 2.09 goals per game and built a reputation as one of the most proactive, front-foot sides in the second tier. The step up is brutal, but Merricks has no intention of parking that ambition at the door just because the opposition has changed.
“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 them. Manchester City did not just win the title last season, they turned their home into a fortress, winning all 11 WSL games there. Pressure builds quickly in that stadium. Teams fold.
Merricks’ answer? Double down on what got them here.
“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.”
City wary of a familiar threat
Andree Jeglertz does not need reminding. Exactly five months before this fixture, his Manchester City side had to grind out a 1-0 win away at Birmingham in the quarter-finals of the Women's FA Cup. It was awkward. It was tight. It left a mark.
“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.”
City start their first league title defence in a decade with the weight of expectation back on their shoulders, but Jeglertz refuses to let the mindset drift towards protection mode.
“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.”
He also knows the danger of a promoted side on day one. Fresh, fearless, and desperate to prove they belong.
“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.”
Injuries bite as champions reset
City’s title defence does not start at full strength. Vivianne Miedema will be missing until at least late autumn with a knee injury, a significant creative and goalscoring absence high up the pitch. Defender Rebecca Knaak is also out of Sunday’s game with a foot problem.
There is some relief: defender Jade Rose and midfielder Grace Clinton have returned to training, edging closer to full involvement. But summer signing Niamh Charles remains, in Jeglertz’s words, “a big question mark” for the opener.
So the champions must juggle absences, expectation and an opponent that has already shown it can frustrate them. Birmingham, meanwhile, stride into Manchester carrying scars from 2022 and the swagger of a side that has just climbed back.
One club defending its crown. The other determined never to feel that 6-0 again.
Only one of them can set the tone for their season on Sunday.
