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Last Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur Women made history by playing in their first ever match in the top flight of English Women’s Football. While the result was a narrow 1-0 loss to an excellent Chelsea side loaded with internationals in front of 24,000 fans at Stamford Bridge, it was a performance to take many positives from. The game’s only goal was thanks to a gorgeous strike from Chelsea’s Bethany England, and while Spurs certainly did a lot of defending in the match, they held their own and even had opportunities to score.
Now, one week later, Spurs are set to welcome Liverpool Women to their new home at The Hive in Barnet for their first ever WSL home match. And new midfielder Chloe Peplow, who made her Spurs debut as a substitute on Sunday, thinks that the experience gained against Chelsea will serve them well going forward.
“I was so happy to be back, and to play against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on a massive occasion was one of the best moments of my career to date. You dream of experiences like that as a little girl, and to be able to say that I’ve played in front of nearly 25,000 people is something I never thought I would be able to say.
“I feel there were a lot of positives to take away from the game and plenty of things we can build on. We have reviewed the game and now we are fully focused on Liverpool. I have had a few encounters with Liverpool while playing with my former teams and I know they are a quality side with some experienced internationals. I’m sure the game will be very challenging, but it’s a challenge we are ready for.”
The Reds finished 8th out of 10 clubs in the WSL last season, but like Spurs added some experienced league players this summer and should be well-matched to Tottenham. Spurs co-head coach Juan Amoros said the expectation is now to build upon Sunday’s performance.
“We set high standards last Sunday and made a clear statement of what this team is about and what we want to achieve in the league this season. For us, that is now a benchmark and we’ll be expecting that standard in every game. We showed that we can compete and now it’s about going into Sunday’s game to win.”
Spurs host Liverpool this Sunday at The Hive, with kickoff at 9:00 a.m. ET (2:00 p.m. BST). The match is not televised but will be streamed live (and for free) on The FA Player.