After nearly a month of no action in the Women's Super League, Aston Villa Women and Chelsea Women kick start the season again when they meet at Banks's Stadium on Saturday.
Before the international break, Chelsea continued their climb up the WSL table and now currently sit second, three points behind leaders Arsenal, while Villa experienced a slump in form, losing their last two games before the break.
Match preview
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Carla Ward's side finished the WSL with a 3-0 defeat against Reading before the international break, which was a disappointing result for Villa as Reading had not won a game nor scored a goal in the league prior to that outing.
However, it was a comfortable day for the Royals, who were cruising at 3-0 by the midway stage, and the visitors never managed to put Reading under any pressure, recording zero shots on target.
Aston Villa then followed that defeat up with a 1-1 draw against Championship outfit Liverpool in the League Cup, but the second-tier side claimed two points after winning the match 5-4 on penalties, which has left Villa with one point after one game in Group A.
It was not a bad start to the new WSL campaign for Villa, picking up seven points from their first three games, but they have now started to struggle to earn points, and their form in front of goal does not help that situation.
Villa have only scored four goals in their five league outings so far, which suggests that Chelsea will be able to keep a clean sheet on Saturday, as the Blues have only conceded five goals this season.
Chelsea began this campaign with a 3-2 defeat against title rivals Arsenal at the Emirates, but Emma Hayes's side has put that result far behind them, going eight unbeaten in all competitions since then.
The visitors may have more of an edge over Villa on Saturday having already played since the international break, and a good victory it was last time out against Manchester City in the semi-final of the FA Cup.
Erin Cuthbert, Melanie Leupolz and Bethany England sealed Chelsea's place at Wembley for the FA Cup final with a 3-0 win over Gareth Taylor's side, and the Blues seem to be going from strength to strength game by game this season.
The reigning champions will want to get themselves to top spot as soon as possible, and with Arsenal also in fine form having won all five of their WSL outings, Chelsea will need to keep winning to continue to put the Gunners under pressure.
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Team News
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Ward opted for a more attacking lineup against Reading, but Villa are expected to start with a back five like they did against Arsenal as they attempt to nullify Chelsea's threat.
That means that Mayumi Pacheco, Anita Asante, Elisha N'Dow, Meaghan Sargeant and Olivia McLoughlin are all likely to start in the defensive unit, in front of goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.
Chelsea will line up in a 3-4-3 formation as they have done all season, with Samantha Kerr looking to add to her five goals already this campaign.
Leupolz will continue in the middle of midfield, alongside Sophie Ingle, as Ji So-Yun could be rested before Chelsea's Champions League outing on Tuesday evening.
The strength and depth of Chelsea's squad could mean that Hayes includes some rotation in her selection, which is most likely to come in the wing-back areas, with Cuthbert potentially swapping out for Niamh Charles.
Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Pacheco, Asante, N'Dow, Sargeant, McLoughlin; Lehmann, Arthur, Allen, Petzelberger; Boye-Hlorkah
Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:
Berger; Eriksson, Carter, Bright; Reiten, Leupolz, Ingle, Charles; Harder, Kerr, Kirby
We say: Aston Villa Women 0-3 Chelsea Women
Aston Villa proved to be a stubborn side to break down in the first half of their last outing against Arsenal, but as the game went on Villa tired and opened up.
This encounter is likely to be a similar game for Villa as they are not expected to see much of the ball, and Chelsea's quality should be able to bring them a few goals on Saturday.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chelsea Women win with a probability of 92.76%. A draw had a probability of 5.6% and a win for Aston Villa Women had a probability of 1.69%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chelsea Women win was 0-3 with a probability of 14.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-4 (12.77%) and 0-2 (11.62%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (2.63%), while for an Aston Villa Women win it was 1-0 (0.72%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 6.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Chelsea Women would win this match.
