Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball)
Date – 27/01/24
Time – 12:00
Location – Leigh Sports Village
Where to Watch – The FA Player
My Prediction – Manchester United 1 – 2 Aston Villa
Rachel Daly has been crucial for Ward’s Villains so far this season, netting 13 goals across all competitions.
Image Credit – Morgan Harlow, Getty Images
In the first of Sunday’s action, Aston Villa travel to Manchester to take on Manchester United in the Barclays Women’s Super League. It’s the battle of the struggling managers with Marc Skinner’s reds taking just two victories in their last five WSL matches and with a 13 point gap to leaders Chelsea, a dream of WSL glory has well and truly passed. Ward on the other hand is looking to continue her rebuild, with three of her sides last five WSL outings resulting in victory, as they try to build a gap between themselves and the relegation zone, sitting in 7th. Catch the latest team news, form guide, word from the managers, my predictions and more below.
Head to Head:
WSL -> 7: United (6), Villa (0), Draws (1)
All Competitions -> 11: United (9), Villa (0), Draws (2)
Last Time Out:
Last season in the WSL (2022/23) Manchester United came out on-top on both occasions. Their first victory coming back in December of 2022 where their dominance saw a 5 – 0 victory at home with goals for Katie Zelem, Leah Galton, Alessia Russo, Ona Battle and Rachel Williams cutesy of a 90+3′ scalp. In April last year, in a much close fought battle, United won 2 – 3 in Birmingham thanks to goals from Leah Galton, Nikita Parris and another last minute (90+3 once again) goal from Millie Turner securing the victory. The Villa goals came from a Rachel Daly brace.
The sides came head to head in the league this season, where back in October another closely fought game saw Aston Villa loose at home, the final score being 1 – 2. After a Rachel Daly goal saw the Villains take the lead in the 76th minute a goal just three minutes later from Lucía García and then ANOTHER last minute goal from Rachel Williams (90+2) saw heartbreak for Villa. An added time goal in all three of their last league outings, could Aston Villa stop the same occurring again today?
Manchester United
Marc Skinner’s side have struggled so far this season. With three draws and three losses so far this campaign their hopes of silverware are in jeopardy. A team has never won the WSL after suffering more than two defeats, United have achieved one more loss then that and we’re only halfway through the season. The pressure is building on Skinner, from fans and the club alike to build consistency after issues on and off the field and for me, this Villa result could make or break his future with the side.
Skinner has started facing criticism from fans, from chants to signs and can you blame them? United’s 22/23 campaign which saw them batting till the end for the WSL title, placing 2nd and therefore gaining the opportunity to qualify for the Champion’s League. Just eight months since that success the side have failed to qualify for the UWCL, are potentially knocked out of the league cup (More on that below) and sit 4th in the WSL, 7 points from European football and 13 points from WSL leaders Chelsea, they sit equal on points with Liverpool and Spurs, being separated solely by goal difference.
“I think we have to remember that we are all human but there is no problem with pressure. Pressure is part of this job. It amplifies at Manchester United but so does the support, you can have it both sides. Pressure is because everybody wants to do well but you can use pressure in certain ways – you can fear it and run from it or you can go into it and fight.” – Marc Skinner on the pressure he and his side is facing
Performance wise, they haven’t looked the best either. With exits of key players in the summer window including Alessia Russo, who moved to title rivals Arsenal and defender Ona Battle to Barcelona and injuries to key players like Gabby George you could argue they have been on the back foot.
Their only win in their last four has come from third tear Newcastle, at home in the FA cup with the red devils won 5 – 0. Losses to City midweek in the league cup (2 – 1), Chelsea in the league (3 – 1) and even defeat to Liverpool at home (1 – 2), The reds will hope to unite and come out on top against fellow strugglers Aston Villa and get back on track infront of a home crowd at Leigh Sports Village.
“There is stuff we can do, we will identify how we can create chances against Aston Villa and we will put players in those positions. We know we can’t replicate the game and the intensity but we can get into the mindset and into the practice positions and that is what we will do over the next few games. We know how we can exploit Aston Villa and then I think it’s about taking those chances.” – Skinner on United’s approach to Aston Villa
Team News:
Out – Gabby George, Emma Watson, Jess Simpson, Hinata Miyazawa, Aoife Mannion & Jayde Riviere (Doubt)
Manchester United have faced a difficult spell through injuries, with ACL injuries affecting Gabby George, Emma Watson and Jess Simpson and world cup golden boot Hinata Miyazawa out long term after sustaining a fractured ankle towards the end of last year, on international duty with Japan. Riviere is also a doubt after picking up a knock last weekend.
“We need to assess them today, they had the day off yesterday for recovery. I think the only one I need to check in on is Jayde Riviere. She missed out on Wednesday with a knock from the Chelsea game. I don’t think there is anyone else we need to be worried about.“ – Skinner on Jayde Riviere injury doubt
Form:
Manchester United Most Goal Involvements (23/24):
1. Nikita Parris – 13 (11 Goals, 2 Assists)
2. Ella Toone – 11 (4 Goals, 7 Assists)
3. Rachel Williams – 7 (6 Goals, 1 Assist)
4 (=). Melvine Malard – 6 (5 Goals, 1 Assist)
4 (=). Lucía García – 6 (3 Goals, 3 Assists)
Aston Villa:
Villa will be looking to continue their rebuild after a rocky start to their WSL campaign which sees them placed 7th. Ward’s side struggled to find their feet this season, with zero points from their first five WSL games but have since been on the rise, winning three in their last five, including their last 2!
“I alluded to this when we had a bad run, but it’s important to pick up points in this division because things can change very quickly. It’s in our hands now to continue with those targets that we set out earlier on in pre-season. If we win on Sunday, we’re three points behind [Manchester United]. If we did that, we’d be in a pretty good position.” – Carla Ward on closing the gap to the “Big Four”
Ward, similarly to Skinner, has been under pressure since the beginning of the season and although an admin mistake (see below) could see her side knocked out of the league cup, their progress in the league has been positive. Victory against Leicester City away last time out thanks to an early goal from Rachel Daly came last weekend, with a massive 0 – 7 victory away in the league cup midweek, with goals for Alisha Lehmann, Jordan Nobbs, Rachel Corsie, Ebony Salmon, Simone Magill and former Red Adriana Leon. It didn’t however come without drama.
“It’s a really big game. We’re going into it in good form. We’ve won four of our last six WSL games, that’s good form. We’ve been excellent in some of those games. We know Leigh Sports Village is a tricky place, the fans are unbelievable. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve got a lot of quality in our side and so have they. I imagine it’ll be a good game of football, but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best in the country.” – Carla Ward on United test.
Maritz Admin Error:
According to rule 8.19 in the League Cup, “No player may play for more than one club in the cup competition in a playing season.” A rule which you would think is rather straight forward to follow, especially if a player has played three lots of 90 minutes in the cup this season, right…. RIGHT?!
Apparently not if your Aston Villa and the player concerned is former Arsenal defender Noelle Maritz, who joined the side on a permanent deal in the ongoing January transfer window. Maritz had previously played the entirety of cup games against Bristol City, Southampton and Spurs yet a 46th minute substitution saw her enter the field of play for Villa against Sunderland mid-week.
The last time this occurred in the league cup was in 2014 and came curtesy of Reading who fielded an ineligible player on the 6th of July 2014, in their fixture against the London Bees. This resulted in the side being removed from the tournament and the points from their games being distributed accordingly.
“First and foremost, we understand that we’ve made a horrible mistake. There’s been some internal conversations and investigations on how it’s happened. We’ve got to take a collective responsibility. We have to ensure that the right processes are in place so this doesn’t happen again.” – Carla Ward on Maritz blunder
After Villa’s bizarre mishap they are now being investigated by the FA and if they are found to be guilty could face a punishment such as Readings or have to forfeit the game against Sunderland and therefore the three points. Both scenarios would see the Villains sacrifice their place in the quarter finals and could also be the downfall of Manchester United.
If Sunderland are awarded the three points from the game, their total would rise to 10. If this happens, Manchester United who are currently on nine points would be knocked out of the FA cup. Many would argue however, that if United had won their group this wouldn’t have been a problem for them, as there was always a possibility that Sunderland won that game against Villa, and personally, I don’t see how this is any different.
Aston Villa Team News:
In – Noelle Maritz (Transfer from Arsenal)
Out – Lucy Parker (ankle), Olivia McLoughlin (Loan to Rangers) and Danielle Turner (knee)
Form:
Aston Villa Most Goal Contributions (23/24):
1. Rachel Daly – 13 (13 Goals, 0 Assists)
2. Adriana Leon – 8 (4 Goals, 4 Assists)
3. Ebony Salmon – 7 (4 Goals, 3 Assists)
4. Simone Magill – 4 (2 Goals, 2 Assists)
4. Alisha Lehmann – 3 (3 Goals, 0 Assists)
Match Week 12 Fixtures (28th – 29th January) – All Times GMT:
28th:
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 – 4 Chelsea (MATCH COMPLETE)
29th:
Manchester United vs Aston Villa – 12:00, The FA Player
Everton vs Leicester City – 12:30, The FA Player
Bristol City vs West Ham United – 14:00, The FA Player
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City – 14:00, The FA Player
Liverpool vs Arsenal – 16:30, Sky Sports*
*All games can also be streamed on the FA Player, Overseas only.*
WSL Table:
