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Lauren Hemp derby preparations come with a familiar sense of anticipation as Manchester City travel to Manchester United on Sunday. The England winger says these games stand apart from other fixtures, and City arrive looking to extend a perfect start to their Women’s Super League title defence.
The match takes place on 25 October at Leigh Sports Village, also known as the Progress with Unity Stadium. Kick-off is 18:00 GMT, or 19:00 in Nigeria. It is the next assignment in a demanding spell for City, with a Champions League meeting against Paris Saint-Germain following four days later.
City have won their opening six league matches this season. That is a much more immediate measure than the results in our archive of City’s 2019 campaign, but the older report offers a reminder of the club’s longer competitive history. Hemp is now an established figure in a team seeking to defend its place at the top.
Lauren Hemp derby memories add to the occasion
Speaking to City before the trip, Hemp described the unique feeling of competing against United and the importance of arriving ready to challenge for points. She also praised the supporters’ contribution this season, making clear that their presence and encouragement are noticed by the players.
One personal memory stood out: scoring in the 3–1 victory at Old Trafford in November 2023. City’s retrospective recalls that United initially led through a Katie Zelem penalty before Jill Roord and Hemp turned the score around before half-time. Bunny Shaw added the third, completing an away win at a particularly prominent venue.
More recent meetings supply further context. In November 2025, City won 3–0 at the Etihad Stadium, with Rebecca Knaak and Shaw scoring before Hemp struck from outside the penalty area. The club’s account also highlights Jade Rose’s goal-line clearance, a reminder that an emphatic score can still depend on important defensive interventions.
The March 2026 return at Old Trafford also finished 3–0 to City. Vivianne Miedema scored twice in quick succession, with Kerstin Casparij adding the third. Those results belong to the previous season, however. They explain the memories around this fixture without guaranteeing that a new United team will present the same problems or respond in the same way.
Recognition for individual performances is another strand of the story, as our earlier report on Rasheedat Ajibade’s Liga F award illustrates in a different competition. Hemp has been named City’s September Etihad Player of the Month. That club honour is distinct from the PFA fans’ monthly prize, which teammate Shaw won for the same month.
Milestones reflect a growing role at City
City’s new interview with Hemp looks back on several landmarks reached early in 2026/27. She made her 200th club appearance against Birmingham City on the opening day, becoming the fourth player to reach that total. Longevity provides part of the context for her place in the team: this is a player whose influence has developed across successive seasons.
The club’s interview preview records four goals and four assists in seven appearances at the time of publication. Hemp scored twice against both Liverpool and Arsenal, with the latter match ending in a 4–2 City win. That Arsenal game also moved her third in the club’s all-time appearance rankings, adding another milestone to a productive start.
Her path to this point began far from the largest stadiums. England’s player biography records a move from Bristol City to Manchester City in 2018, after an early career in Norfolk. She had played for North Walsham’s boys’ team and spent time at Norwich City’s Centre of Excellence before moving away from home to join Bristol at 16.
In her own grassroots account for England Football, Hemp describes the importance of playing with her sister and the freedom she enjoyed as a young forward. She connects that background to the confidence needed to take opponents on. It is a useful explanation of the attacking instinct supporters now see in a player carrying senior responsibility.
Hemp’s England career adds another dimension, from her senior debut against Portugal in October 2019 to involvement in the European Championship-winning teams of 2022 and 2025. The international setting has its own pressures, recalled in our archive preview of Nigeria’s 2023 meeting with England. Club derbies offer a different occasion, but the experience of major games is part of her background.
A busy week leaves little room to stand still
The next few days require City to switch between league and European priorities. After United, PSG visit the Joie Stadium on 29 October, with London City Lionesses also part of the coming run of fixtures. City’s interview with Hemp presents those games as challenges she welcomes, following an unbeaten start across the domestic league and Champions League.
For Sunday, the key distinction is between recent contribution and a confirmed team selection. Hemp’s goals, assists and experience make her an important part of the discussion, but the final lineup will establish the coach’s choices. Supporters can assess the shape of the side once those decisions are announced rather than treating an interview as a team-sheet announcement.
The winger’s comments about fans also explain why a derby carries meaning beyond its place in the schedule. Players remember the venue, the response to a goal and the voices accompanying an away performance. Hemp’s recollection of Old Trafford fits that pattern, while her appreciation of this season’s support brings the focus back to the current team.
City go to Leigh with a strong league start and a player whose recent form combines creativity with goals. United provide the next test of that progress. Past wins and personal milestones make the occasion richer, but the points will depend on Sunday’s performance, and Hemp’s enthusiasm is directed towards helping produce another one worth remembering.
Isiagu Tobby
Wowplus editorial contributor.
