Aston Villa Women v Arsenal Preview: Gunners Aim to Regain Winning Ways in the West Midlands

Arsenal Travel to Villa Park Aiming to Regain Winning Ways in the West Midlands

Arsenal Women travel to Villa Park on Sunday evening in the WSL as Jonas Eidevall's team aim to lick their wounds and get back to winning ways in the West Midlands. Last weekend's tame defeat at Stamford Bridge has certainly taken the Gunners out of the title race and now they must focus on maintaining the distance to Manchester United in 4th and not turning the final weeks of the season into a race to preserve Champions League qualification.

Eidevall on the Challenge of Facing Aston Villa's Different Formations

Eidevall was philosophical in his Friday press conference, admitting that his team had been inconsistent this season and suggesting this game would be a good barometer for his team given the different formations Aston Villa have been able to adopt this season. Carla Ward's side were recently swotted aside 4-0 in the Conti Cup semi-final at Meadow Park.

Arsenal's Team News and Potential Line-Up

According to @Abseits on Twitter, Lia Walti is out for the season. Arseblog News have not been able to directly corroborate this just yet however, we have found this account to be beyond reproach when it comes to information on Swiss players and teams. Vivianne Miedema (knee) is also out, while Laura Wienroither is close to returning from an ACL injury but might not quite make this match day squad. Amanda Ilestedt (pregnancy) is unavailable, as are Lina Hurtig (back), Teyah Goldie (ACL) and Kaylan Marckese (ACL).

Aston Villa's Team News and Formation

Arsenal faced an accommodating Villa side in the first half of the recent Conti Cup Final. The Gunners attacked the space in behind Maz Pacheco in the first half to great effect. In the second half, Villa switched to a back three, a system they retained for the 2-1 win at Everton last weekend.

Player to Watch: Frida Maanum

With Lia Walti and Vivianne Miedema out, it is a chance for Kyra Cooney-Cross to get more game time. But it is also a good opportunity for Frida Maanum to have a consistent run in the team and rediscover the form that made her player of the season for 2022-23.