Fixtures
- Manchester City Women Vs. Aston Villa Women – Sun, Oct 20th 2024, 12:15
Aston Villa travel to take on Manchester City this afternoon for their final fixture before the international break.
Robert de Pauw’s side will also be looking to earn their first win of the 2024/25 Women’s Super League season.
Villa were last in action last weekend as they took on Leicester City at Villa Park.
Nothing was able to seperate the sides as both were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw.
Villa dominated proceedings however were unable to make their chances in front of goal count.
Manchester City were last in action on Wednesday as they travelled to take on St. Pölten in the UEFA Champions League.
Goals from Alanna Kennedy, Aoba Fujino and Mary Fowler helped the side secure a 3-2 win to keep them top of their group.
Stats
Manchester City have won 18 of their last 20 matchs in the WSL – since the start of this run on November 19th last year, they have won 10 more points than any other sie (55).
Aston Villa are averging 420 successful passes per game in the WSL this season, their best average in a single campaign.
Duo Anna Patten and Lucy PArker have passed the ball to one another 153 times in the WSL this season, the most between two players in the competition in 2024/25 so far.
The Last Meeting
Aston Villa’s 2023/24 Women’s Super League campaign came to end with a narrow 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at Villa Park back in May,
Mary Fowler put the visitors ahead early on, but Villa fought back with a second-half Rachel Daly equaliser.
Despite applying pressure late on, it was title-chasing City who found a winner through Lauren Hemp, although they did have to settle for second-place as Chelsea ran riot at Old Trafford to claim top spot.
Team News
Georgia Mullett (hamstring) has returned to team training and is getting closer to making a return to the matchday squad.
Anna Leat (head) has returned to individual training and is close to returning to full training.
Jill Baijings (back) is back in the gym as she continues to build
Rachel Corsie (knee) is still recovering from surgery she had earlier this month.
Lucy Staniforth (knee) will be sidelined for 3-4 weeks.
Paula Tomàs remains suspended for this fixture.
Adriana Leon will miss today’s game for personal reasons.
Managers’ Pre-match Thoughts
“We’re clearly the underdog so it gives a different kind of pressure. We played them (Manchester City) in pre-season, we know we can give them a lot of opposition and we showed that in pre-season. So, know it’s up to us that we repeat that.” – Robert de Pauw
