Gareth Taylor hopes to trump Emma Hayes' Chelsea in tight WSL title race

Twists and turns are part and parcel of every title race. Some seasons have runaway winners, some spring a surprise, while others keep you guessing until the close in May, when a victor finally reveals themselves.

Gareth Taylor hopes this campaign can be the latter for Manchester City, who are currently locked on 34 points at the top of the Women's Super League with rivals Chelsea.

Winning the league is the aim at the start of every campaign for a club as ambitious as City, but a triumph that has been realised only once - back in 2016 under Nick Cushing's management.

Plenty of false dawns have followed. City are the team every neutral wants to watch, but the side that seems to consistently finish second, sometimes third-best.

Why would this season be any different? Well, as Taylor sits down for an exclusive chat with Sky Sports before facing Everton at the Joie Stadium on Saturday, he does so with optimism, buoyed by a euphoric success over Chelsea a fortnight ago. No one result wins you a title but certain games carry higher risk than others - greater consequences.

Across the desk from Taylor, City's men's manager, Pep Guardiola, knows that feeling all too well. Perceptive Pep, a serial achiever in his seven-and-a-half years at the Etihad, has often been the master of big-game mentality. Last season it won them a historic treble.

Pep's side face their own test of steel in the Manchester derby, live on Sky Sports, 24 hours after Taylor's City host Everton this weekend, and the intention will be the same: win.

"I have lots of conversations with Pep," Taylor began, "and the main one, in terms of the success of last season, is about being defensively solid. The foundation has to be right. Nothing else works efficiently if that is