Aston Villa Women are looking to continue their positive start to the new Women's Super League season when they travel to face West Ham United Women at Victoria Road on Saturday.
The Hammers are aiming for their first points of the 2021-22 campaign, and both sides will want to go into the international break with a win to build on when the league then resumes on September 25.
Match preview
Olli Harder's side travelled to the Amex stadium last weekend to face Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day, but after centre-back Hawa Cissoko was sent off after 32 minutes for the visitors, they struggled to make their mark on the game.
Inessa Kaagman converted from the penalty spot and Geum-Min Lee struck before half time to seal the three points for the home side, who were not tested defensively with West Ham only registering one shot on target.
Manager Harder was not best pleased with the decision to send Cissoko off and award Brighton a penalty for what he claims was not a deliberate handball, but he was happy with his side's performance up until that turning point in the game.
Going into this weekend, the Hammers will focus on the positives from last Sunday, including the character they showed to play with 10 players and still create some attacking chances.
Captain Gilly Flaherty was also keen to mention the good aspects of her team's performance at the Amex, suggesting that West Ham enter this weekend with the right mentality to bounce back from a frustrating result.
Aston Villa faced a tricky test against WSL newcomers Leicester City last Saturday, and they left themselves with a scoreline to overturn in the second half after Natasha Flint had put the visitors 1-0 ahead.
Carla Ward's side showed resilience to absorb pressure from the Foxes and two quick-fire strikes from Sarah Mayling and Remi Allen turned the game around for Villa, who held on for all three points.
Villa's attacking performance could be described as efficient having scored the only two shots they recorded on target in that game, but against West Ham this weekend, Ward's side are less likely to penetrate a more experienced WSL defence without creating some better chances in the final third.
Aston Villa only managed three wins during the 2020-21 campaign, so a follow-up victory against West Ham on Saturday would stand them in good stead to better their WSL finish from last year.
Both meetings between these two sides last season ended in goalless draws, but they will be looking to put on more of a spectacle this time around as Villa and West Ham make their debut on Sky Sports.
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Team News
One of the positives West Ham took from their outing last weekend was that 19-year-old midfielder Mel Filis made her full debut for the club, and the youngster will take confidence from that as she eyes this season to be her breakthrough year in the top flight.
Harder named six players who made their competitive debut for the Hammers in the starting lineup against the Seagulls, including Abbey-Leigh Stringer, Zaneta Wyne, Lisa Evans, Yui Hasegawa, Filis and Claudia Walker.
The manager was pleased with the side's camaraderie last weekend, as their team is made up from a relatively new group of players, and Harder is likely to name a similar starting lineup with Lucy Parker replacing the suspended Cissoko.
Aston Villa midfielder Chloe Arthur received a personal boost this week as she was called-up to the Scotland squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers, and she will add to the 22 caps she has already earned.
Ward also named a much-changed Aston Villa team from last season, with seven of her 10 summer signings starting the game against Leicester, including Hannah Hampton, Mayling, Meaghan Sargeant, Maz Pacheco, Alisha Lehmann, Allen and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah.
Villa are likely to line up with the same 11 this weekend, but could add experienced signing Gemma Davison and Australian international Emily Gielnik to the matchday squad.
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Arnold; Flaherty, Parker, Fisk; Wyne, Filis, Stringer, Hasegawa, Evans; Walker, Leon
Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Pacheco, Asante, Sargeant, Mayling; McLoughlin, Arthur; Hutton, Allen, Lehmann; Boye-Hlorkah
We say: West Ham United Women 1-0 Aston Villa Women
Aston Villa were not completely convincing during their win against Leicester on the opening day, while West Ham were pleased with their performance despite their result.
If past meetings is anything to go by, those results suggest that this clash will be a low scoring affair, but if one team is to come out on top, West Ham are likely to pick up three points to put last week's defeat behind them.
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 West Ham United Women win with a probability of 54.18%. A draw had a probability of 24% and a win for Aston Villa Women had a probability of 21.83%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United Women win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.56%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.85%) and 2-1 (9.72%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.41%), while for an Aston Villa Women win it was 0-1 (6.7%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood.
