‘Learning tricks of the trade’ – Eagles boss Kaminski expecting tough clash at Liverpool
By Gina Bagnulo
Crystal Palace Women will be facing Liverpool away at St Helen’s Stadium on Sunday.
Laura Kaminski’s side made history the last time they travelled north, where they secured Palace’s first-ever Women’s Super League (WSL) win against Leicester City on October 6.
Despite falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to rivals Brighton last time out, Kaminski has full faith in her side heading into the clash against the WSL big-hitters.
Kaminski said: “We’ve now had a few weeks learning tricks of the trade in the league and getting used to the pace of things. I expect the game to be challenging for the group – we expect a tough battle. We know they put their bodies on the line and they’re an aggressive side.
“We’re aware of that and we need to do those battles with conviction but also have our own game planned in the sense that we’ve looked okay with the ball and we plan to continue in those progressions.”
Considering the high-profile opposition the Eagles have had to contend with not long after being promoted to the league including the likes of Chelsea and Brighton, Liverpool appear to be more equally matched.
This may also be because Palace have multiple footballers who previously donned a Liverpool jersey. Katie Stengel, arguably one of Palace’s most important assets in offence, played for the Reds under manager Matt Beard between 2022 and 2023. During this time, she made 33 appearances and scored 17 goals for the club.
Likewise, Annabelle Blanchard, a Liverpool-native was a product of the club’s academy system making her professional debut for the Reds in 2017.
Kaminski said: “She [Stengel] has some pretty fond memories from her time at the club of great interest and value to me to hear about the time she had there and it was all positive, but things have moved on. She obviously went to America and has now returned to the WSL and the league’s moved on. Katie’s focused very much for Palace as we look into the weekend.”
As a general attitude to competition, Kaminski emphasised that Palace are more concerned with their own team progression rather than data specifics, maintaining that this has been steady during the Eagle’s short time in the WSL.
She said: “We’re less so looking at previous results or patterns you might find in data. We’re less so looking at that now. Our performances drive us more, and we know that the performances are looking steady.
“I was really proud of the performance against Brighton, we’re disappointed to not get anything on the day and we know we’re after points, it’s not just playing well that we’re after.
“We think that if we keep doing that, that the rest will speak for itself in terms of goals and points.”