In-form Aston Villa take on Leicester at Villa Park on Women’s Football Weekend looking to cement their place as best of the rest outside of the big four.
Carla Ward’s side showed what they’re capable of in the FA Cup quarter-finals, dispatching heavily fancied Manchester City 2-1 to book a place in the last four for the first time in their history.
That result follows a run of three wins and two defeats in Villa’s last five WSL games, which is significantly better form than what Leicester have been able to produce this season.
Willie Kirk’s Foxes are glued to the bottom of the table after another difficult season, and know they must start churning out results soon if they’re to mirror last season’s great escape.
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Emily Gielnik misses out against Leicester because of ankle injury, while Ruesha Littlejohn is also sidelined with the knee injury he picked up against West Ham.
Remi Allen, Simone Magill and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah are not yet ready for first-team action, and Meaghan Sargeant and Natasha Harding are long-term casualties.
Willie Kirk revealed in his pre-match press conference that Jess Sigsworth’s recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in February 2022 is going well, and that she may feature before the end of the season.
The same can be said for Shannon O’Brien and Abbie McManus, but they won’t be available to play at Villa Park.
It’s hard to look past Aston Villa repeating the victory they picked up over Leicester in September, when Rachel Daly and the aforementioned Gielnik eased the Villans to three points at King Power Stadium.
The hosts are in good form and confidence is riding high after beating City in the FA Cup – Daly is also in tremendous form individually in her more favoured role up front.
Leicester will be no pushovers as they trail Brighton by just a point in the WSL table, but may struggle to have the firepower to earn all three points given they’ve scored just seven goals all season.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Leicester
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