Preview: Aston Villa Women vs. Birmingham City Women - prediction, team news, lineups

On the final day of the Women's Super League season, Aston Villa Women will play host to their rivals Birmingham City Women in the Second City derby.

The hosts currently sit in ninth position, while Birmingham were relegated following a 6-0 defeat to Manchester City in midweek.

Match preview

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Aston Villa will be looking to keep hold of ninth spot as they look to better last season's 10th-placed finish.

They have already accumulated six more points than last term, but the Villains will be looking to end the campaign on a positive note after suffering a heavy 7-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend.

A Vivianne Miedema brace set the Gunners on their way to a comfortable victory, with Aston Villa conceding more goals in 90 minutes than they had done in their nine league games prior to the Arsenal clash.

Still reeling from that defeat, Carla Ward will now face her former side, with the former Birmingham boss looking for her players to end a 12-game winless home run in all competitions.

The hosts have the chance to clinch a league double over their rivals after beating the Blues 1-0 in the reverse fixture, thanks to a first-half effort from Anita Asante.

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Birmingham, meanwhile, will feature in a WSL contest for the final time in 2022 after they were relegated in midweek.

Like their neighbours, the Blues also suffered a demoralising defeat in their last outing as Man City dispatched six goals past Darren Carter's side in the second half of the midweek contest to ease to a 6-0 victory.

The defeat confirmed that one of the founding members of the WSL would drop down to the Championship after picking up just eight points from their 21 league games this season.

Although their 11-year stay in the WSL is coming to an end, Birmingham will want to leave the division with a victory over their local rivals.

If they are to collect three points on Sunday then Blues must remain tight at the back, which has been far from simple for the bottom-placed side, with Birmingham one of two teams who have not kept an away league clean sheet this season.

Team News

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Remi Allen is sidelined for the hosts due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, while Anna Patten is also unavailable.

Ruesha Littlejohn and Chloe Arthur are doubts for the derby, although Jill Scott is expected to miss out through injury.

Asante will captain Aston Villa in a contest that will be her last game in professional football before retiring.

As for the visitors, Cecilie Sandvej was an unused substitute in midweek following a spell on the sidelines, and the 31-year-old is expected to be on the bench once again for Sunday's encounter.

Sandvej will be joined on the bench by Lucy Whipp, who has made two substitute appearances since her return from injury.

Carter could bring Lucy Quinn back into the starting lineup to partner Jade Pennock in the forward line.

Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:

Hampton; Mayling, Asante, Corsie, Pacheco; McLoughlin, Petzelberger; Lehmann, Blindkilde, Boye-Hlorkah; Gielnik

Birmingham City Women possible starting lineup:

Ramsey; Scott, Lo. Quinn, Lawley; Cowie, Finn, Sarri, Murray, Robertson; Pennock, Lu. Quinn

We say: Aston Villa Women 1-1 Birmingham City Women

Although they lost heavily in midweek, Birmingham have shown signs of promise in their three games prior to the Man City defeat, and we think Blues will do enough to hold their local rivals to a draw on Sunday.