On Sunday afternoon, Aston Villa will play Manchester United in the first game of the 2023–24 Barclays Women’s Super League.
On the first day of the Women’s Super League season, Aston Villa Women played a Manchester club at Villa Park… That one has been done previously.
In front of 6,785 spectators in B6, Carla Ward’s team opened the 2022–23 campaign with a thrilling 4–3 victory over Manchester City last term. This year, they play Manchester United in front of an anticipated crowd of over 6,000.
Villa themselves have suffered some pretty heavy defeats at the hands of the Red Devils, but the matchup at Walsall in April was a much tighter contest and necessitated a stoppage time winner for the visitors to take all three points – a sign of the progress Villa continue to make. United finished second in the WSL last season and pushed champions Chelsea right until the final day.
Opening day tests don’t get much greater than United, who finished second in the WSL last term and pushed champions Chelsea right until the final day. Villa themselves have been on the end of some pretty heavy defeats at the hands of the Red Devils, but the meeting at Walsall in April was a much tighter contest and required a stoppage time winner for the visitors to take all three points – a sign of the progress Villa continue to make.
The summer has been hectic for both clubs. In addition to completing permanent deals for Kirsty Hanson and Anna Patten, who were on loan from United and Arsenal respectively last season, Villa also made four additional recruits. The matchup on Sunday will be even more exciting because Adriana Leon and Ebony Salmon were also members of the Manchester team in the past.
Marc Skinner has drastically updated his roster despite losing Alessia Russo to Arsenal on a free transfer at the end of the previous campaign. The World Cup golden boot winner Hinata Miyazawa, a Brazilian international named Geyse, and Gabby George are just a few of the newcomers he brought in over the summer.
However, they won’t have young Emma Watson, who suffered an ACL tear while representing Scotland internationally. Aoife Mannion is also injured and out for Sunday, although Jayde Riviere could play, providing Skinner a wide range of possibilities.
From the viewpoint of Villa, the visitors will have to go through the first weekend without Maz Pacheco, who is a serious doubt due to an illness. The start of the season will probably come too soon for Kenza Dali to recover from a World Cup injury.
Last year’s opening-day triumph over City was scored by Dali, Alisha Lehmann, and Rachel Daly, but Villa recruited more firepower to their offensive lines over the summer and shouldn’t struggle to score goals this year. To clinch a victory on Sunday, Ward’s key players will need to step up swiftly, but they should enter this match full of confidence and belief.
illa boss Ward also emphasised her side are capable of reaching new heights this season with the players they’ve brought in adding a new dimension to their style of play. “We’ve brought in players all over the pitch that can cause different problems,” she told the media on Friday morning.
“It allows us to be fluid in the way that we play. It gives us different attacking options and I think that’s something we probably didn’t have last year. We were very set in our ways.
“Now, it just gives us a different dimension. We can play in different ways with different types of players. Ebony’s pace and power is phenomenal, to have that added to our ranks is massive for us.”
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