Aston Villa v West Ham United women's team
Barclays Women's Super League, Villa Park, Sunday 28 April 2024, 2pm BST
West Ham United women's team head on their second successive away trip on Sunday afternoon, as they head to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Rehanne Skinner's side head to Villa Park for Matchday 20 in the Barclays Women's Super League, as they look to pick up points and secure their place in the top division for next season.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the clash...
Tickets
Away tickets are available to purchase now, priced at £12 for Adults, £9 for Under-18s and £6 for Under-14s.
How To Follow
You can watch the Hammers in action on Sunday by tuning into The FA Player. Coverage will begin shortly before the 2pm kick off.
Alternatively, you can also follow the action across our social media channels, while highlights and exclusive reactions will follow after the final whistle on whufc.com.
The Opposition
After a strong 2023/24 season, Aston Villa were tipped to be the team that would push the ‘traditional’ top four all the way in the Barclays Women’s Super League again this time around.
However, things haven’t quite worked out that way for Carla Ward’s side, with her team suffering from a poor start and some inconsistencies throughout the season. Indeed, the Villains lost their opening five WSL matches, but then recovered and have since picked up six wins, leaving them seventh in the standings with three league games remaining.
Villa are without a win in their last three league matches, losing to title challengers Chelsea and Arsenal, while drawing 2-2 with Leicester City last time out.
Ward began her managerial career in January 2018 at Sheffield United. In the two-and-a-half years she was at the helm, the now 39-year-old led the club to 34 wins in 58 games – a win percentage of 58.62 per cent.
From there, she joined Birmingham City during their rebuild in 2020/21. At the end of the season, Ward was named on the WSL Manager of the Year shortlist after helping City avoid relegation.
In May 2021, following her resignation from the Blues, Ward crossed the Second City to join neighbours Aston Villa. In her first season in charge, her squad earned a ninth-place finish in the WSL. In the 2022/23 season, Villa finished fifth, recording their best-ever finish, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
At the end of last season, Ward extended her contract with Villa until the end of the 2024/25 season.
Previous Meetings
The two sides have met nine times in competitive action over the past four years, with the Hammers coming out on top on three occasions.
Dagný Brynjarsdóttir and Honoka Hayashi both scored in a 2-1 victory for West Ham on their last visit to the Second City, which took place on 15 October 2022.
In the meeting earlier this season, Ward’s side narrowly came out on top at Chigwell Construction Stadium, coming from behind to win 3-2.
Coach's View...
“I think the biggest thing is that off the back of it [the defeat to Manchester City] is that we need to get a few things cleared up and made sure that we ironed things out based on the way that we want to move forward,” Skinner told reporters in Wednesday’s pre-match press conference.
“Training over the last couple of days has been really good and the response has been positive, which I’d fully expect. We want to make sure that we go into this weekend and give a better account of ourselves.
“When you get the opportunity to play at these stadiums, I think it’s an incentive for players. We’re really looking forward to playing on a couple of big pitches in our final games, which will allow us to utilise and exploit the space. On the flip side, it means we’ll have a little bit more ground to cover from a defensive perspective, so we’ll have to be well organised in that sense.”
