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

Aston Villa Women will attempt to claim their first win of the Women's Super League season when they welcome Liverpool Women to Villa Park on Sunday.

The hosts are languishing in 10th spot in the WSL table, while Liverpool will head into the weekend in sixth position.

Match preview

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Aston Villa boss Robert de Pauw is still searching for his first WSL victory, having seen his side take just two points from their five league matches.

Those two points have come from Villa's two home league games which have seen them draw 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur and play out a goalless affair against Leicester City.

Unfortunately for the Villans, they have lost all three of their WSL away matches, including a narrow defeat to Manchester City in their final outing before the international break.

Gabi Nunes scored her first WSL goal to give Villa a half-time lead, but Villa were unable to prevent Man City's second-half turnaround as Lauren Hemp and Jill Roord both found the net to snatch all three points.

Villa will now be fully focused on Sunday's fixture, with the hosts looking to claim their first win over Liverpool since recording a 1-0 victory in November 2022.

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Liverpool are sitting four points above their opponents after winning one, drawing three and losing one of their first five league games.

The Reds put together a three-game unbeaten start to the WSL season, drawing against Leicester City and West Ham United before scoring a late winner to claim a 3-2 away win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Unfortunately for Matt Beard's side, their unbeaten start was brought to an end by a narrow 2-1 defeat to Man City at Anfield.

Liverpool went on to play out their third 1-1 draw of the season in their clash with Crystal Palace before the international period, with Cornelia Kapocs scoring a first-half equaliser after former Reds striker Katie Stengel had opened the scoring.

The Merseyside club will fancy their chances of picking a positive result in their first game back from the international break, having avoided defeat in their last seven WSL away matches since losing to Man City in January (W6, D2).

Team News

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Aston Villa's Jill Baijings is set to miss out with a back problem, while Rachel Corsie and Lucy Staniforth are both sidelined due to knee injuries.

Left-back Paula Tomas will serve the final game of a three-match suspension after being sent off in a 4-2 defeat to Brighton on October 5.

Goalkeeper Anna Leat and forward Georgia Mullett are making progress in their injury recovery, but it is unclear whether the pair will be available for Sunday's fixture.

As for the visitors, Matt Beard has confirmed that Sophie Roman Haug is set to miss the next "four to six weeks" after picking up an injury against Man City last month.

Sofie Lundgaard and Faye Kirby are both long-term absentees, with the pair sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Goalkeeper Teagan Micah has returned to full fitness and will compete with Rachel Laws for the number one spot.

Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup: D'Angelo; Maritz, Patten, Parker; Robinson, Nobbs, Kearns, Turner; Nunes, Hanson; Daly

Liverpool Women possible starting lineup: Laws; Bonner, Matthews, Clark; Parry, Hobinger, Nagano, Kapocs, Hinds; Enderby, Smith

We say: Aston Villa Women 1-2 Liverpool Women

Liverpool have won five of their last seven away matches in the WSL, and after winning their previous two matches against Villa, we think that the Reds will squeeze past their opponents to record a third consecutive head-to-head victory.

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