Liverpool Women to add to trophy cabinet this weekend as Klopp chases quadruple

Matt Beard's team are currently 11 points ahead of second placed Bristol City Women, who they face this Sunday, and could return to the Women's Super League with two games to go.

Liverpool's men are still in the running to secure the quadruple after winning the League Cup in February, and the women's team look poised to add to this season's trophy cabinet at Anfield.

The Championship side have spent the majority of the season at the top of the table and boast the best defensive record, as well as being the highest scoring side in the league.

Liverpool's strong squad have played an aggressive, attacking style of football this season that other teams in the Championship have been unable to crack across the 22-game campaign.

Summer signing and top scorer Leanne Kiernan has been in fine form in front of goal, netting 12 goals since joining from West Ham, with midfielder Rachel Furness and Katie Stengel also frequently firing for the Reds.

Beard's side also made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup, the quarter-final of the FA WSL Cup and have only lost one game in the league, too - a 1-0 narrow defeat to London City on the opening day of the campaign.

Getting to this point has been far from easy, though.

The club were originally seen as trailblazers in the sport after they were the first women's team to offer their players professional contracts.

They then went on to be one of the founding members of the Women's Super League in 2011, and won the title twice in 2013 and 2014.

However, in 2018, senior players began to head for the exit as investment was withdrawn from the club.

One departing player, Siobhan Chamberlain, who later signed for Manchester United said: "It's important to be in an environment that challenges me every day and one where I can enjoy playing football.

"I also want to know that I am part of a project that is doing the most it can to develop women's football."

Then, in 2020, further lack of investment and opting not to secure players on professional contracts led to the Reds being relegated to the Championship.

While Liverpool's men were on their way to securing the Premier League title, the women's team dropped out of the top flight when the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the Reds lost more star players, including Courtney Sweetman-Kirk and Christie Murray.

Liverpool's luck didn't begin to turn in the second tier, either. They were unable to adapt to the league's physical demands and to hold on in games led to a third place finish, 11 points off promoted Leicester City.

Now, reinvestment and a meticulous recruitment system and manager Beard returning for his second stint as manager before the start of this season has led to the Reds' revival.

Fans have began returned in their numbers since the team's resurgence, too, with a free coach being put on for supporters for this weekend's potential title-winning match in Bristol.

The Liverpool women rebuild appears to be complete and they look certain to be joining the men's team in playing in the sports' top flights once again.