Fixtures
- Aston Villa Women Vs. Leicester City Women – Sat, Mar 30th 2024, 12:30
At A Glance
Aston Villa Women continue league matters on Saturday as they aim to get back on track against Leicester City.
Carla Ward’s side took the lead on Sunday evening against Arsenal before succumbing to a 3-1 defeat.
The disappointing defeat came on the back of a 2-1 away success against Everton the weekend prior, which gave Villa a first win of March.
Villa have won their last five games against Saturday’s opponents by an aggregate score of 12-2.
Leicester were in Barclays WSL action a few hours prior to Villa last Sunday, losing 3-2 to Brighton & Hove Albion in dramatic fashion.
The defeat ensured a run of three league outings without a win for the Foxes, although they are in no real danger of being dragged into a relegation battle.
Standout Stats
Villa have won all five of their WSL meetings with Leicester City, recording more victories against the Foxes than any other opponent in the competition.
Leicester City have lost both of their away games against Villa in the WSL, losing 2-1 in September 2021 at Poundland Bescot Stadium and 5-0 in March 2023 at Villa Park.
Villa have won just one of their last 11 home matches in the WSL (D2 L8). They’ve conceded 2+ goals in each of the 10 games they haven’t won in this run.
After failing to win either of their first two Midlands derbies in the WSL (D1 L1), Villa have since won six of their last seven such matches (L1), with their only defeat during this run coming against Birmingham City in May 2022 (0-1).
Leicester City have lost each of their last three matches in the WSL and could lose four on the trot for the first time since December 2022 (run of 10), a run which included a defeat to Villa (0-2, September 2022).
Carla Ward has won all five of her WSL matches against Leicester City by a combined scoreline of 12-2, making the Foxes both the team she has most wins against and the only side she has a 100% win rate against (5/5).
Rachel Daly has scored in all three of her WSL appearances against Leicester City, only netting more times in a Villa shirt against Reading (6 goals) than the Foxes (4 goals).
Adriana Leon has been involved in a goal in each of her last four WSL matches, providing as many goal contributions (4 – 2 goals, 2 assists) during this run as she had across her previous 21
matches in the competition.
The Last Meeting
Villa enjoyed a five-star afternoon as they triumphed 5-0 last March to record a fourth consecutive win over the Foxes.
Kenza Dali opened the scoring in the opening 10 minutes before Alisha Lehmann and Rachel Daly struck before half-time.
Lehmann and Daly doubled their respective tallies in the second half as Villa put on a dominant performance in front of the Villa Park crowd.
Team News
Carla Ward expressed no new injury concerns during Thursday morning’s press conference.
Daphne van Domselaar (hip), Lucy Staniforth (ankle), and Lucy Parker (ankle) remain out with long-term injuries, but Kirsty Hanson has returned to the grass following a calf problem that arose during our Conti Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal at the beginning of the month.
The winger has subsequently missed two games but looks likely to return to action following the international break.
The Boss
“It’s one we want to go and get maximum points from, of course. It won’t be easy. They’ve lost a few [games] but I know Jen [Foster] well. She was one of my coaches when I was at [Birmingham City]. She’ll have them organized, we expect it to be a tough afternoon because they’ve had a fairly good season so far.” – Carla Ward
