Women's Super League Weekender: Aston Villa v Manchester City preview
Aston Villa v Manchester City Women
Venue: Villa Park
Kick Off: 14:30, Saturday 5 September
Preview
Aston Villa have a suitable venue for their first-ever fixture in the Women's Super League, playing the match at the famous Villa Park. The Championship winners have recruited well under sporting director Eni Aluko, bringing in Frauen-Bundesliga experience with the likes of Caroline Siems and Ramona Petzelburger.
City will want to go one better than last season, when they were narrowly beaten to the title by Chelsea on points-per-game, despite leading the table when lockdown brought the campaign to a close. USA stars Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis are their headline signings but Chloe Kelly will also want to make an impact following her move from Everton.
Opta Stats
- Aston Villa will be making their Barclays FA Women’s Super League debut against Manchester City, the 17th different club to feature in the competition.
- This will be the first league encounter between Aston Villa and Man City since May 2013 when the sides drew 1-1. Since then, the Citizens have scored 12 unanswered goals in two Continental Tyres League Cup games against them, in July 2016 (8-0) and December 2018 (4-0).
- Aston Villa had an outstanding campaign in the FA Women’s Championship last season en route to promotion, winning 13 of their 14 games (D1), scoring 39 goals whilst conceding only 11. Indeed, Villa have won each of their last eight league matches.
- Manchester City picked up 19 points from their final seven Barclays FA Women’s Super League games last season (W6 D1), netting 20 goals in this run.
- New Manchester City signing Chloe Kelly had the most shots (16) and the most take-ons (33) following a carry (a player moving at least five metres with the ball) than any other player in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League last season.
