Aston Villa Women take on Manchester City this weekend in what will be their first game of 2022.
Villa were due to face Everton on Saturday, January 8th following the winter break but saw the game postponed after the Toffees' suffered a Covid-19 outbreak.
So attention now turns towards the visit of an improved City side at the Banks's Stadium.
In our final game of 2021, we fell to a heavy defeat against City's neigbours United at Leigh Sports Village.
On the dya, United dominated from start to finish as Ella Toone (2), Katie Zelem, Lucy Staniforth and Martha Thomas all netted.
The result has left Carla Ward's side sitting in 10th position in the WSL heading into the second half of the season, but Birmingham City's recent 2-0 success over Arsenal has increased the importance somewhat of picking up points from January onwards.
Saturday's game will be live on the FA Player, while ticketing info can be found below.
This weekend's visitors to the Bank’s Stadium are Manchester City.
City seem to have recovered from a rocky start to the 2021/22 campaign in which they failed to win four of their opening five league games.
A key factor in City’s slow beginning was a slew of injuries to first-team personnel which forced manager Gareth Taylor to play several players out of position for a prolonged period.
The pressure looked like it was beginning to build, however Sunday’s 6-0 thumping of Brighton & Hove Albion lifted City to 5th in the WSL after 10 games played.
Last season’s runners-up are now just four points behind Tottenham Hotspur for the final UEFA Champions League spot.
As for Saturday's matchup, City will be full of confidence against a Villa side that they’ve enjoyed several successes against over the last couple of seasons.
Since our promotion to the top flight in 2020, we’ve faced City four times and are unfortunately on the receiving end of a 22-0 aggregate scoreline.
Carla Ward will be hoping to buck that trend at the Banks’s Stadium.
Players to Watch
Steph Houghton - City and England captain Houghton has been a City stalwart since arriving from Arsenal in 2014. She has lifted seven trophies with City: three FA Cups, three Continental Cups and the FA Women’s Super League title and has been named the Club’s Player of the Year twice.
Lucy Bronze - Bronze re-joined City in September 2020 from European heavyweights Olympique Lyonnais. The right-back had already helped City to silverware during her first spell at the Club between 2014 and 2017, winning the FA Women’s Super League, FA Cup and Continental Cup (scoring in both Cup Finals), and clinched the Player of the Year award in 2016.
Lauren Hemp - Three-time PFA Young Player of the Year Hemp is one of the brightest talents in the game. She is a constant threat on the flank and is now a shining star for her country, having become a regular for England.
The Last Meeting
The Boss
Carla Ward spoke ahead of this weekend's matchup with City...
"City come into this weekend's game in good form. They've really picked up after a difficult period. With the quality they have across the playing and coaching staff, it wasn't going to take them too long to hit the ground running. They're firmly back in the mix for a European spot and it will be a difficult afternoon for us.
"We started the season well but there was a bit of a dip before Christmas. It's really important that we get back to what we're good at and really nail that down. We've had a positive couple of weeks back in training and we're looking forward to playing games again.
"The January window has seen us bring in a quality player in Anna Patten. We've already seen in training what she will bring. Her attitude on and off the pitch has been first class and we're delighted to have her.
"Freya Gregory has moved to Leicester City for the rest of the season. For us it's about getting our young players as many minutes as possible with a view to them kicking on next season. We see Freya as a massive part of what we're trying to do."
