At A Glance
Aston Villa Women continue their Barclays WSL campaign this weekend when they face West Ham United at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Carla Ward and co. travel to Dagenham to take on the Hammers in another important league battle, with kick-off set for 3pm.
The game will be Villa's last league encounter before a pivotal Vitality Women's FA Cup quarter-final with Manchester City next weekend, but focus is fully on this Sunday.
Villa are brimming with confidence at the moment and will take a five-game unbeaten run with them to London.
Buoyed by last weekend's 2-0 success against Everton, Ward will also take encouragement from our previous visit to RM10 just a couple of weeks ago.
Villa overcame their claret & blue counterparts, via a penalty shootout, to book their place in the last eight of the FA Cup.
This weekend's opponents at Chigwell Construction Stadium are West Ham United.
While the Hammers are only two places below Villa in the WSL table going into Sunday's clash, we have pulled slightly clear of our foes in recent weeks.
A seven-point gap has opened up between ourselves and Paul Konchesky's side despite recent encounters being extremely tight affairs.
But despite fixtures involving West Ham and Villa being as competitive as any other fixture, Villa are the form side of the two.
Konchesky and co. have won just one of their last eight games; that being a 2-0 success at third-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers in round four of the FA Cup.
Standout Stats
- Despite never winning in five WSL meetings with West Ham, both of Aston Villa's away games against the Hammers in the competition have been drawn (0-0 in April 2021, 1-1 in September 2021).
- Aston Villa are unbeaten in their five WSL games so far in 2023 (W3 D2), with only Manchester City and Manchester United (13 each) earning more points this calendar year than the Villans (11).
- Aston Villa have won their last two WSL games, with both of these coming away from home. Victory here would be both the first time they've won three consecutive games, and three consecutive away games in the competition.
- Kenza Dali has been involved in six goals in her last six WSL appearances (2 goals, 4 assists), getting a hat-trick of assists in Aston Villa's 6-2 win against Brighton last month.
- Rachel Daly's 10 goals have been worth 10 points to Aston Villa this season, the most of any player in the WSL this term.
The Last Meeting
Villa reached the Women's FA Cup quarter-finals the last time these two sides met, as a thrilling penalty shoot-out victory over West Ham United saw us march onto the last eight.
Rachel Daly opened the scoring just after the half-time break, but Dagny Brynjarsdottir levelled in second-half stoppage time as the game ended 1-1 after 90 and then 120 minutes.
In a dramatic shoot-out, Hannah Hampton hammered her spot-kick into the net to hand Villa the advantage in sudden death, and the tie was won when West Ham goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold fired over the crossbar to spark wild scenes of celebration.
Team News
Carla Ward confirmed during Friday morning's press conference the same options of the past few weeks would be available for Sunday's game.
That means Anna Leat, out for several weeks with a back problem, continues to be sidelined.
Remi Allen and Simone Magill, meanwhile, both continue to progress well in their individual pitch-based work.
Meaghan Sargeant, Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Natasha Harding remain out with long-term injuries.
The Boss
“It’s about keeping feet on the ground and making sure we move forward. I always want more, so it’s important we continue to raise standards. We’re in good form, the players are a joy to work with and a joy to watch.”
Carla Ward
