Key events
Manchester City 0-1 Aston Villa. Huge chance for Manchester City to equalise! Hemp makes a run down the right before cutting back and sending a cross to Roord on the edge of the six-yard box. The midfielder flings herself at the ball in a bid to tap it in, but can’t quite get enough contact on it.
Here’s a look at that Gabi Nunes goal…
Manchester City 0-1 Aston Villa. Hanson makes a run down the left before sending a cross into Nunes at the front post. The Brazilian manages to get in front of Aleixandri before flicking the ball into the bottom-right corner. Brilliant from Villa against the run of play!
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Aston Villa (Gabi Nunes, 20)
And just like that, Aston Villa take the lead! Gabi Nunes scores her first goal for the club!
Manchester City 0-0 Aston Villa. A fairly tame header from Shaw is comfortably saved by D’Angelo. Villa left the WSL Golden Boot holder completely free in the box there – they will not want to make that same mistake again.
Manchester City 0-0 Aston Villa. City are happy to keep the ball at the moment – and Villa are happy to let them. The visitors are simply waiting to pounce on a mistake in midfield. They have managed it a few times so far in this game, but are yet to make the most of any chances they have created.
Manchester City 0-0 Aston Villa. Chance for City as Shaw goes for goal from outside the box, but her effort flies way off target.
Manchester City 0-0 Aston Villa. Manchester City are not trying to force anything in these early stages. Any glimpses at goal have been handled well by the Aston Villa defence.
Kick-off – Manchester City vs Aston Villa
We’re under way at the Joie Stadium!
The teams are out! Just a few minutes to go until kick-off at the Joie Stadium!
I want to hear from you today! Feel free to send me an email with any score predictions, feelings, thoughts and all that jazz. Who will end the weekend at the top of the WSL table? Will Manchester City and Chelsea continue their dominance? Will Arsenal bounce back from last week’s defeat? Or will West Ham pull off another shock result at the Chigwell Construction Stadium?
Manchester United dropped points for the first time this season yesterday after being held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton. United took the lead through Grace Clinton in the 10th minute, but Nikita Parris levelled things up against her former club after half-time. The two sides now sit level on 10 points.
Katie Robinson starts her first WSL match for Aston Villa this afternoon. Manager Robert de Pauw has made just one change to his line-up, with the former Brighton star replacing Chasity Grant in attack.
Chloe Kelly remains on the bench for Manchester City amid ongoing speculation around her future at the club. Meanwhile, summer signing Vivianne Miedema is unavailable. The Dutch international missed City’s midweek trip to St Polten due to an injury concern which is not thought to be serious.
As things stand, Miedema is still expected to link up with the Dutch national team next week.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa – team news
Manchester City starting XI: Ayaka Yamashita; Kerstin Casparij, Laia Aleixandri, Alex Greenwood (C), Leila Ouahabi; Yui Hasegawa, Jill Roord, Jess Park; Mary Fowler, Lauren Hemp, Khadija Shaw.
Your City XI to face Villa! 🙌
XI | Yamashita, Aleixandri, Greenwood (C), Fowler, Roord, Hemp, Ouahabi, Park, Casparij, Shaw, Hasegawa
SUBS | Keating, Coombs, Kelly, Kennedy, Blindkilde Brown, Fujino, Prior, Thomas, Murphy#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/L6xsoR0zBk
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) October 20, 2024
Aston Villa starting XI: Sabrina D’Angelo; Noelle Maritz, Lucy Parker, Anna Patten, Danielle Turner; Jordan Nobbs, Missy Bo Kearns; Katie Robinson, Kirsty Hanson, Gabi Nunes; Rachel Daly (C).
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another WSL clockwatch. We have four games to look forward to before this evening’s London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham.
Manchester City and Aston Villa kick off proceedings at 12:15pm BST before Liverpool host Crystal Palace, Everton travel to Leicester and Arsenal take on West Ham.
The table could look very different come the end of the day – join me!
