Birmingham City Women and Aston Villa Women will clash at St Andrew's Stadium on Sunday in the first Second City derby of the season, in gameweek seven of the Women's Super League.
The Blues are still searching for their first league win this campaign, while Villa's form has slowly tailed off after a really positive start to the season, with these two teams currently sitting 11th and eighth in the table.
Match preview
Birmingham have not managed to claim victory in any competition so far this season, and they did not build upon their first WSL point last time out when they welcomed Reading to the West Midlands.
Scott Booth's side faced a Reading team that was high on confidence after a 3-0 win over Villa before the international break, and Kelly Chambers's side dispatched Birmingham by the same scoreline last weekend.
The Royals were not challenged much by their hosts, who only managed three shots in the encounter, and it was the fourth WSL match this season that Birmingham have failed to score in.
The Blues will be looking to give their fans something positive to shout about this Sunday, after the crowd at St Andrew's have seen their team lose three out of three league games on their own patch this season.
That is likely to be a tough challenge for the hosts, as Villa make the short trip across the city having only lost once away from home this season, but that did come not too long ago against Reading.
Carla Ward was proud of her team's efforts last time out, when they welcomed reigning champions Chelsea to Banks's Stadium, and only fell to a 1-0 defeat against Emma Hayes's side.
Villa had to endure long periods of pressure from their visitors, who limited Aston Villa to zero shots on target, but having seen what Chelsea have done to some of the other teams that they have faced this season, losing 1-0 against one of the title challengers is seen as a respectable result from Villa's point of view.
Playing a side which is yet to win in the WSL seems to present an opportunity for Villa to re-find their good form that they started the season in, and another three points this weekend will go a long way in securing Ward's side's safety in the top flight.
With this encounter being a Second City derby, Birmingham will also see Sunday as a good opportunity to claim their first victory of the campaign, as rivalries tend to bring cagey affairs with both teams wary of losing.
A tight encounter came about last time these two teams met, when Veatriki Sarri rescued a point for Birmingham after youngster Freya Gregory had given Villa the lead, with that game ending 1-1 back in April.
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Team News
Birmingham striker Sarah Ewens has not featured in the Blues' last three WSL games due to injury, but she is fit enough for a place on the bench but will definitely not start for the hosts.
Rebecca Holloway made her return from injury over the international break by coming on with 30 minutes to play against Reading last weekend, and the Northern Ireland international is ready for a full return to the starting lineup this Sunday.
Midfielder Christie Murray made her first appearance of the season last week after a long spell with injury, and she will continue in the middle of the pitch along with Lisa Robertson.
Ward opted for a back five against Chelsea, but she is expected to name a more attacking lineup this weekend as she expects her side to see more of the ball against Birmingham.
That will mean there is likely to be a space for Gregory, Alisha Lehmann and Ramona Petzelberger in an attacking midfield three, while Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah could lead the line for the visitors.
Birmingham City Women possible starting lineup:
Ramsey; Scott, Sandvej, Louise Quinn, Holloway; Robertson, Murray; Ryan-Doyle, Lucy Quinn, Whelan; Smith
Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Pacheco, Asante, Sargeant, Mayling; Allen, Arthur; Gregory, Lehmann, Petzelberger; Boye-Hlorkah
We say: Birmingham City Women 0-1 Aston Villa Women
With both teams not proving to be free-flowing in front of goal in recent times, it is likely to be a low-scoring affair when they meet at St Andrew's on Sunday.
Having put together the better start to the season than their rivals, Aston Villa should be confident of claiming all three points, and they should limit Birmingham to few chances on Hampton's goal.
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 Aston Villa Women win with a probability of 56.98%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Birmingham City Women had a probability of 19.46%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aston Villa Women win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.33%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.71%) and 1-2 (9.73%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.19%), while for a Birmingham City Women win it was 1-0 (6.44%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Aston Villa Women in this match.
