Mary Earps believes Manchester United can become one of the best teams in women’s football “within the next five or six years” providing they embrace their status as underdogs first in the Women’s Super League.

United welcome Arsenal for their first top-flight fixture at Leigh Sports Village on Monday evening where they will look to earn their first points of the campaign following their 1-0 loss to Manchester City at The Etihad on the opening weekend of the season.

“Arsenal are a strong side in their own right in terms of the players they’ve brought in and the players they’ve developed over the years,” said goalkeeper Earps, who made her United bow in front of a record WSL crowd of 31,213 at the historic derby. “There’s a reason they won the league last year. I think they very much deserve to have their Champions League status back.

“Obviously, we’re definitely the underdogs in that game - like we will be in many games this season. But I think we’ve shown that with the style of football we’re trying to play, we’re not just going to be defensive and try and win games that way. There’s a future we’re trying to build.”