At A Glance
Aston Villa face Brighton & Hove Albion for the third time this season when they come up against each other on Saturday.
Carla Ward's side claimed a 1-0 triumph in December's reverse fixture at Poundland Bescot Stadium, with Adriana Leon netting her second Barclays WSL goal of the campaign, while we also emerged victorious in a Conti Cup quarter-final penalty shootout at Broadfield Stadium in February.
Villa, whose away form has been indifferent of late, head into this weekend looking to record a third successive league victory over the Seagulls.
Brighton will be looking to bounce back after conceding late on against Tottenham Hotspur last time out, extending their winless run to three games.
The east Sussex club recorded an action packed 3-2 win over Leicester City prior to their recent slide, and have W1 D2 L3 in their last six matches in all competitions.
Mikey Harris' eighth-placed side are winless in the last six home games, although they did take Villa all the way to penalties during that run.
Standout Stats
Brighton and Hove Albion have lost each of their three WSL home games against Villa by an aggregate score of 9-2.
Villa have won each of their last two meetings with Brighton and Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League, including a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture in December; the Seagulls would be the only side
to suffer a league double to the Villans this term.
Since the beginning of last season, Villa have won 12 away games in the Women’s Super League (D2 L7) with only Manchester City (15), Chelsea (14*) and Manchester United (14) picking up more
victories on the road in that period.
Villa lost their first three WSL games played on a Saturday this season by an aggregate score of 12-3 but are unbeaten in three such games so far in 2024 (W1 D2), scoring exactly twice in each of those
matches.
This will be the first time Villa’s final away game of a WSL season hasn’t come against Arsenal, drawing 0-0 with the Gunners in 2020-21, losing 7-0 in 2021-22 and winning 2-0 last season.
Jordan Nobbs has scored seven WSL goals against Brighton and Hove Albion, only netting more often versus Merseyside clubs Liverpool (10) and Everton (8) in the competition; that includes a
hat-trick for Villa in this fixture last season.
The Last Meeting
Villa recorded their biggest ever WSL victory when these sides met in February 2023.
Julia Zigiotti put Brighton ahead after just three minutes but Villa completely obliterated their opponents from that point onwards.
Lucy Staniforth, Kirsty Hanson, Jordan Nobbs and Rachel Daly all found the net in an action-packed 21-minute span.
Nobbs added further strikes either side of half-time as Villa ran out 6-2 winners.
Team News
Carla Ward confirmed during Thursday morning's press conference that Lucy Parker would make a long-awaited return to the matchday squad this weekend.
The defender, in the midst of her first season at the club, underwent ankle surgery in January but is fit and available for the final two games of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Daphne van Domselaar (hip) and Lucy Staniforth (ankle) are not quite ready to return from their respective injuries but Rachel Corsie and Anna Leat are set to return from one-game suspensions.
The Boss
The work they’ve done off the pitch has been excellent in the last few years and Mikey’s come from their academy and installed the Brighton way of playing. They like to play out from the back, they like to keep the ball. They’ve played a really good style recently and they’ll be tough to play against. I thought they were excellent against Spurs in moments. We’ve had success in Crawley the last couple of years but they’re going to want to finish strong. For both camps, it’s a big game.”
Carla Ward
