Our defence of the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup continues as we host Aston Villa in the semi-finals at 7.15pm on Wednesday.
After beating Chelsea to win the competition last season, this term we earned 11 points from four games to top Group D, before eliminating London City Lionesses in the quarter-finals.
Victory against Villa would set up a final against either Manchester City or Chelsea, depending on the outcome of Thursday night’s clash between those two sides.
The view from Villa
It’s been a mixed season so far for Carla Ward’s side, who began 2023/24 with five defeats on the bounce in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
But they managed to start climbing the table after stringing some wins together from mid-November and are now eighth after the weekend’s 4-1 loss at home to Liverpool.
In the Conti Cup, Villa came second in Group A, before knocking out Brighton & Hove Albion in the quarter-finals on penalties.
What the managers say
Eidevall: “It’s a good side, Aston Villa. They have a lot to play for being in the semi-finals, just as we do, and apart from the game against Liverpool, their last game here, which I think they’re disappointed with, I think you have seen a Villa side that has been progressing and developing after the new year. We need to be on our very best behaviour and performance in order to get the result we want."
Read every word from Jonas’ pre-match press conference here.
Ward: “I’ve not reached a major final yet. Aston Villa [Women] have never reached a major final, it would be absolutely huge. We’ll do everything we can to reach it but we know it’s going to be a tough ask. We’re going up against, in my opinion, one of the best squads in the country and we’re certainly thin on the ground. It’s going to be a massive, gigantic effort to get there."
Team news
Vivianne Miedema (knee), Lina Hurtig (illness), Teyah Goldie (ACL) and Laura Wienroither (ACL) remain unavailable for Wednesday, while Katie Reid is cup tied.
Emily Fox, Cloe Lacasse and Sabrina D’Angelo remain with their national teams for the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup and will be unavailable on Wednesday.
For Villa, Lucy Staniforth and Lucy Parker remain out with respective ankle injuries, while Freya Gregory, Miri Taylor and Noelle Maritz are all cup-tied.
Adriana Leon is still on international duty with Canada, but Rachel Daly is set to return from a three-game suspension.
Match officials
Paul Howard has been appointed as the man in the middle for Wednesday night’s game.
He has officiated 28 games so far this season, mostly across League One and League Two, and handed out 104 yellow cards as well as four reds.
Referee: Paul Howard
Assistant referees: Harley Hetherington and Matthew Joyce
Fourth official: Ruebyn Ricardo
How to watch
All the action kicks off at Meadow Park at 7.15pm (UK) and the match will be shown live on the FA Player for supporters who aren’t able to attend.
Last time we met
We left it late to beat Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium earlier this season, Alessia Russo and Katie McCabe both scoring in stoppage time at the end of the second half to complete the turnaround after Mayumi Pacheco’s first-half opener.
It was an important win as it was our first of the season in the WSL after defeat to Liverpool and a draw with Manchester United.
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