Aston Villa Women will return from the international break with a home fixture against Liverpool Women on Sunday.
The Villans are in eighth position in the Women's Super League, while the visitors are six points better off in fifth place.
Match preview
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Aston Villa went into the two-week break off the back of a narrow 2-1 victory in their away meeting with Tottenham Hotspur.
Adriana Leon saw her opener cancelled out by Amy Turner, before Jordan Nobbs restored Aston Villa's lead on the hour mark.
Carla Ward's side ultimately saw out the remainder of the contest to record a third victory across their last five WSL matches (D1, L1).
That victory also represented their fourth away league win of the season, but they have struggled to replicate those sorts of results on home turf, having seen their six WSL home matches produce one win, one draw and four defeats.
They can at least draw inspiration from the fact that all four of their home points have come from their last two league outings at the Bescot Stadium.
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Like their hosts, Liverpool also enjoyed success in their final outing before the international period, with the Reds edging out Brighton & Hove Albion to claim their sixth win of the WSL season.
Ceri Holland's second-half effort proved enough to clinch all three points and end Liverpool's three-game winless run in the top flight.
Having picked up 22 points from their 14 matches, the Reds are just one point away from equalling their total tally from the 2022-23 campaign.
While a top-three finish is seemingly out of reach, Matt Beard's side are in the hunt to overtake Man United in fourth position, with just two points separating them from the Red Devils.
Liverpool will have the chance to complete a league double at the weekend after they recorded a 2-0 victory when they last met Aston Villa in October 2023.
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Team News
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Aston Villa are expected to be without the injured duo of Lucy Parker and Lucy Staniforth, while Rachel Daly will serve the second match of a three-game suspension.
Leon is also missing for Sunday's contest, with the Canada international currently representing her country at the Gold Cup.
Kenza Dali could replace Leon in the starting lineup after the 32-year-old dropped down to the bench for the win over Spurs.
As for the visitors, Beard has confirmed Shanice van de Sanden will be absent after she picked up an ankle injury on international duty with the Netherlands.
The forward joins full-back Taylor Hinds in the treatment room, while Holland will serve the first game of a two-match ban following her red card against Brighton.
With Holland set to drop out of the side, Beard could present Missy Bo Kearns with a starting place for Sunday's away meeting.
Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
Van Domselaar; Mayling, Patten, Maritz, Pacheco; Nobbs, Corsie, Magill; Lehmann, Hanson, Dali
Liverpool Women possible starting lineup:
Laws; Bonner, Fahey, Fisk; Koivisto, Hobinger, Nagano, Kearns, Matthews; Haug, Lawley
We say: Aston Villa Women 1-1 Liverpool Women
After struggling on home turf this season, Aston Villa have shown signs of improvement to take four points from their last two home league matches, and we think that the Villans will do enough to pick up a point from Sunday's contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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