Match Pack: West Ham

At A Glance

A third consecutive victory is the prize on offer to Aston Villa Women against West Ham United on Sunday.

The team’s improved form has seen them get their League Cup campaign off to a winning start, and they also took themselves off the foot of the Barclays WSL table with a 2-0 win at Bristol City last time out.

Ebony Salmon had a great week in front of goal, netting in both fixtures as Carla Ward's side look to put their early-season difficulties behind them.

West Ham come into the game one point clear of Villa after picking up four points from their first six league matches.

The east Londoners have won one, drawn one and lost four ahead of hosting us in RM10.

Rehanne Skinner's team are on a four-match winless run following a 5-0 loss to Manchester United last time out.

Standout Stats

•  West Ham have only lost one of their six WSL games against Villa (W2 D3), although it was their 
  most recent meeting in March, losing 2-1.
• The home team hasn’t won any of the six WSL meetings between West Ham and Villa (D3 L3), with 
  this the joint most a WSL fixture has been played without a home win along with Villa vs Brighton 
  and Doncaster Rovers Belles vs Everton.

• Villa put an end to their five-match losing streak in the WSL last time out, beating Bristol City 2-0 
  thanks to a goal from Ebony Salmon and an own-goal from Megan Connolly.
• Aston Villa have only lost two of their last 10 away matches in the Women’s Super League (W6 D2), 
  although the two defeats during this run occurred this season, with Villa losing two of their last three 
  league matches on the road (W1).
• Villa’s Kirsty Hanson provided two assists in her last WSL match against West Ham, setting up 
  Rachel Daly for the opener before teeing up Jordan Nobbs in a 2-1 victory.

The Last Meeting

Villa prevailed when they travelled to West Ham back in March.

Rachel Daly's rocket saw the visitors open the scoring before half-time.

The striker continued her rip-roaring form with a superb strike 10 minutes before half-time to set Villa on their way.

Jordan Nobbs then converted a slick, team move on 62 minutes to put the visitors into the ascendency, before Viviane Asseyi halved West Ham's deficit to make for an edgy conclusion.

Team News

Carla Ward confirmed during Friday morning's press conference that Simone Magill is in contention to feature in this weekend's matchday squad.

The Northern Ireland international has been struggling with a quad injury but has been ramping up her rehab and could make a return to the bench.

Meanwhile, Lucy Parker has begun some light on-pitch work but is still a couple of weeks away from returning to training with the full squad.