Managerless Aston Villa Women will welcome West Ham United Women to Villa Park for Sunday's Women's Super League contest.
The Villans are currently sitting in ninth place in the WSL, while the visitors are two points better off in eighth position.
Match preview
Aston Villa Women's Rachel Daly on September 20, 2024© Imago
Aston Villa are currently searching for a new permanent manager after parting ways with Robert de Pauw on Wednesday.
De Pauw, who replaced Carla Ward in the summer, left the club after overseeing one win, three draws and five defeats in nine WSL matches in charge.
As a result of that underwhelming record, Villa are currently battling to preserve their top-flight status, with just one point separating them from the relegation spot.
Shaun Goater stepped up from his role as assistant coach to take charge on an interim basis, beginning with a 4-1 victory in Wednesday's Women's League Cup clash against Charlton Athletic, which came courtesy of braces from Rachel Daly and Ebony Salmon.
While that result was not enough to secure Villa a place in the quarter-finals, Goater will hope his side can build upon that victory as they go in search of their second WSL win of the season.
After beating Palace in their most recent home league outing, the Villans have the chance to claim back-to-back WSL victories for the first time in their history.
West Ham United Women's Katrina Gorry on September 29, 2024© Imago
In contrast to their hosts, West Ham United will be competing in the Women's League Cup quarter-finals after securing top spot in their group with a commanding 3-0 win over Southampton in midweek.
A Shelina Zadorksy and a Paige Peake own goal gave West Ham a two-goal cushion, before Dagny Brynjarsdottir scored her first goal since returning to action following the berth of her first child.
West Ham will now turn their focus back to WSL action, with the Hammers looking to continue their recent upturn in fortunes after winning two of their last three league games.
They edged out Leicester City to clinch a narrow 1-0 victory, before they fell to a 3-2 defeat in their away meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Hammers got back on track in an entertaining encounter against Palace, fighting back from two goals down to clinch a 5-2 home victory thanks to goals from Viviane Asseyi, Seraina Puibel, Manuela Pavi, Anouk Denton and Katrina Gorry.
While they would have taken confidence from those two home wins, West Ham are still looking to end their long wait for an away league win, having failed to win any of their previous 10 WSL away matches since they beat Bristol City in January.
Aston Villa Women Women's Super League form:
Aston Villa Women form (all competitions):
L
D
W
L
L
W
West Ham United Women Women's Super League form:
West Ham United Women form (all competitions):
D
W
L
W
W
W
Team News
Aston Villa Women's Ebony Salmon on November 23, 2024© Imago
The hosts remain without the services of Rachel Corsie and Lucy Parker due to knee and ankle injuries respectively.
There are also doubts surrounding the availability of Anna Leat, Jill Baijings and Missy Bo Kearns.
Sarah Mayling, Jordan Nobbs and Chasity Grant could return to the starting lineup after dropping down to the bench in midweek.
As for the visitors, Jess Ziu remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Kristie Mewis is unavailable after announcing her pregnancy last month.
After making wholesale changes in midweek, Skinner could revert back to the team that started the 5-2 league win over Palace last weekend.
Asseyi will continue to offer one of West Ham's main attacking threats after scoring four goals in her last four appearances in all competitions.
Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
D'Angelo; Mayling, Patten, Turner, Tomas; Staniforth, Nobbs; Grant, Daly, Hanson; Salmon
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Szemik; Smith, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Denton; Pavi, Siren, Gorry, Piubel, Asseyi; Ueki
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We say: Aston Villa Women 1-1 West Ham United Women
West Ham may sense an opportunity to claim all three points against a team that is currently without a permanent manager, but given the fact they have failed to win any of their last 10 WSL away games, we think the Hammers will have to settle for a point on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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