Opposition...
It’s been a dramatic week at Aston Villa, with former manager Robert de Pauw leaving the club on Wednesday following his side’s 4-0 defeat at Arsenal at the weekend - which left the Villans ninth in the WSL standings.
Looking for an upturn in form while the club search for a new boss, assistant head coach Shaun Goater is set to be in the dugout this weekend as he looks to help Villa record their second league victory of the campaign.
His stint in charge of Villa got off to the perfect start on Wednesday night when his side ran out 4-1 winners at home to Charlton Athletic in the Women’s League Cup. But the victory was not enough to send the hosts through to the quarter-finals with Tottenham Hotspur topping Group E with three wins from three matches.
Villa’s only win of their league campaign came at home to Crystal Palace last month when they clinched a 3-2 success thanks to a second-half stoppage-time strike from Ebony Salmon. Also on target that afternoon was former England international Rachel Daly, who will be looking to record her fifth league goal of the campaign on Sunday following her 30 goals across the past two WSL seasons.
Eight new faces arrived at Villa Park in the summer, including England international Katie Robinson, who joined on a free transfer from divisional rivals Brighton & Hove Albion. Meanwhile, Jill Baijings arrived from Bayern Munich on loan after helping the German side retain the Frauen-Bundesliga title last term, and experienced Canada international Sabrina D'Angelo joined from Arsenal.
Departing the Midlands outfit permanently were four players; Alisha Lehmann, Olivia McLaughlin, Daphne van Domselaar and Simone Magill, while Freya Gregory joined Southampton on loan.