Arsenal Women will try to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Chelsea when they travel to Villa Park for Sunday’s Women’s Super League meeting with Aston Villa Women.
Meanwhile, the Villans will have the chance to claim consecutive victories after beating Everton in their most recent outing.
Match preview
Aston Villa Women’s Ebony Salmon celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on March 16, 2024
Aston Villa began the month with a couple of disappointing results, losing 4-1 in a league meeting with Liverpool before they were thrashed 4-0 by Arsenal in the League Cup semi-finals.
However, the Villans managed to get back on track in their recent trip to Walton Hall Park, with goals from Kenza Dali and Ebony Salmon proving enough to secure a 2-1 win over Everton.
That result represented their fifth away victory of the WSL campaign, which is quite the contrast to the one win that they have mustered in seven home league games this season.
Those struggles on home turf have effectively quashed Aston Villa’s hopes of replicating last season’s fifth-placed finish, with the Villans currently sitting in seventh position and nine points adrift of Liverpool in fifth spot.
Nevertheless, they are just three points behind sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, and a top-half finish would represent a satisfactory result after beginning the 2023-24 campaign with five consecutive defeats in the WSL.
Arsenal Women’s Alessia Russo celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 3, 2024
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Arsenal’s hopes of claiming their first WSL title in five years are left hanging by thread following a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in their most recent fixture.
Chelsea netted all three goals in the first period, making Catarina Macario’s 86th-minute own goal a mere consolation for Jonas Eidevall’s side.
While they remained in third position, Arsenal are now six points adrift of Man City and Chelsea with just six matches left to play in the WSL season.
They do at least have a six-point buffer over Manchester United and Liverpool, leaving them on course to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The Gunners will certainly fancy their chances of returning to winning ways this weekend, having already beaten Aston Villa in the WSL and the League Cup this season.
Aston Villa Women Women’s Super League form:
Kenza Dali and Ebony Salmon were both on the scoresheet for Villa last week as they secured a 2-1 win away to Everton in the WSL, Elise Stenevik scoring a consolation late on for the hosts.
That win saw Villa go seventh in the WSL, three points away from the top half with Tottenham Hotspur occupying sixth place on 22 points.
With 32 goals conceded, the fourth worst defensive record in the league, Villa will be hoping to keep a few more clean sheets in the final months of the season.
We have won all three of our away games against Aston Villa in the WSL, scoring exactly four goals in each victory (4-0 in February and October 2021, 4-1 in December 2022).
Katie McCabe has been directly involved in six goals in her seven appearances against Aston Villa in the WSL, netting in all three ofour away wins against the Villans in the competition (3 goals).
Aston Villa’s Jordan Nobbs is our record appearance holder in the WSL, scoring 52 league goals in 157 appearances for us between 2011 and 2022 before joining the Villans; Nobbs’ only previous outing against us in the competition came from the bench in a 2-1 loss earlier this season.
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