Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Sunday 29 March, Kingsmeadow, 12:00pm
Two games kick off at midday on Sunday this weekend, one of which is Chelsea vs Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow, and for Sonia Bompastor’s side, it is a chance to bounce back from two recent matches where they drew with London City Lionesses last Saturday in the Barclays WSL, and then lost their first leg tie against Arsenal. As for Aston Villa, they will be aiming to continue some positive momentum in their season after a draw against Man City and a win over Leicester City last time out.
Some good strides have been taken in recent weeks by Natalia Arroyo’s team after they had been on a bad losing run, but last weekend saw them manage to complete a victory away from home after trailing at half-time for the first time in WSL history. They previously had lost 20 and drawn two of their last 22 matches in the league away from home when they were losing at half-time.
At this stage last season, Aston Villa had begun a run that saw them win their final five league games which helped them ended the season on a huge high, and they’ll look to end the season just as brightly, even up against a Chelsea side they have never beaten since they were promoted back into the Women’s Super League a few years ago.
Chelsea have won every single encounter in all competitions when they have faced Aston Villa. But Villa did test them last time they met earlier in the season. Chelsea won 3-1 at Villa Park, however Aston Villa had on the back foot a couple of times before the away side in that encounter found a way to win as they have done so many times.
Pressure has been building on Chelsea currently with the title race having looked like it has slipped away from them, they are fighting to stay in the top three currently, as well as continuing to compete in other competitions. They have also had to deal with many injuries to a lot of players and heading into this weekend, Sonia Bompastor could potentially be without Aggie Beever-Jones as the latest player out in their squad.
They did get to have Ellie Carpenter on their bench last Tuesday following her return from Australia at the Women’s Asian Cup. Sam Kerr could return as well having not been a part of Tuesday’s squad. Aston Villa will also have Maya Hijikata back with them having been involved at the same tournament as well with the winners Japan.