WSL match preview: Aston Villa v United
Manchester United Women kick off what will be a busy December when we travel to the Banks’s Stadium to face a struggling Aston Villa side on Saturday afternoon.
Following the recent international break, it has been over two weeks since Casey Stoney’s side were last in action, when we beat Manchester City on penalties in the Continental League Cup.
The Reds will be looking to continue our great start to the WSL season and increase our gap at the top of the table.
The clash will kick off at 12:30 GMT and, ahead of the game, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know…
Back in action
GalleryThe WSL leaders have been preparing for a first league match in three weeks, against Aston Villa.
The match will be broadcast live on the FA Player, while you can watch a full re-run of the game on MUTV from 14:30 GMT on Saturday afternoon. Alternatively, in-game updates can be found on our official Twitter account.
TEAM NEWS
Casey Stoney will be without forward Alessia Russo for this one, after she sustained a hamstring injury, while long-term absentee Martha Harris remains on the sidelines. Kirsty Smith featured for Scotland during the recent international break and should be available for the trip to the West Midlands.
FORM GUIDE
The Reds are still yet to be beaten in the league this season, sitting top of the WSL table on 17 points, after recording five wins and two draws from our seven games so far. We’ve also won all three away league matches this season, a record we can hopefully continue this weekend.
As for the the hosts, they currently find themselves in 10th after a tough opening to their maiden WSL campaign. However, the Villans have played just five games and are on three points, after one win and four losses so far. That solitary victory came against Brighton & Hove Albion last month, when Anita Asante and Ramona Petzelberger were on target for Gemma Davies’s side.
OUR RECORD AGAINST VILLA
This is our first top-flight meeting with the Villans, although we did cross swords twice in the Championship, during the 2018/19 campaign. It was the Reds who won both of those encounters, by an aggregate score of 17-0. We actually travelled to Villa for our first-ever league match and won 12-0, with current Reds Lauren James, Jess Sigsworth, Katie Zelem, Kirsty Hanson and Ella Toone among the goals.
WHO ELSE IS IN ACTION?
There are six fixtures in the WSL this weekend, spread over Saturday and Sunday:
SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER
Aston Villa V UNITED (12:30 GMT)
SUNDAY 6 DECEMBER
Chelsea v West Ham United (12:30 KO GMT)
Arsenal v Birmingham City
Everton v Manchester City
Reading v Bristol City
Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton & Hove Albion
*All matches kick-off at 14:00 GMT, unless stated otherwise.