Birmingham City vs Aston Villa Women Preview: Villa must keep momentum going in Second City Derby

Aston Villa will be looking to build on their result against Tottenham at the weekend as they face rivals Birmingham City on matchday 15 in the FA Women’s Super League.

Villa go into the game on the back of a huge 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon with Mana Iwabuchi’s 25-yard wonder strike enough to secure one of their biggest results of the season so far.

Birmingham City traveled to Merseyside to face Everton on Sunday and came from behind to draw 1-1 with Willie Kirk’s side.

This will be the second meeting between the two sides this season as they faced each other in the reverse fixture back in November of last year.

The match was held behind closed doors at Villa Park, but it was a disappointing result for the home side as the visitors secured a late winner through Claudia Walker to earn a 1-0 victory.

Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images

Villa are a different prospect now under interim manager, Marcus Bignot, and that is something City boss Carla Ward is well aware of, saying: ”Bignot is a percentage football man. They look organised.”

Only a point separates the sides in the table so it’s not just bragging rights at stake heading into this game; Bignot has made it clear that his team targets finishing above their rivals this season as they look to cement themselves as a top-flight side.

High morale

Saturday’s victory over Spurs is just the beginning for this Villa side under the new coaching set up, fronted by Bignot, but still influenced by Gemma Davies and the coaching staff that built the club to the point they are at today.

Speaking to Villa TV ahead of Wednesday night’s game, Bignot said: “The mood is very good; the girls have come back in high spirits as you can imagine after such an important win.

“I’ve certainly seen a momentum shift and that build in training and we’ve executed that in a game.

“But the challenge now for this group of players and staff is can we follow that up now with a back-to- back win, which we haven’t done this season.”

Around the league

With only six points separating Bristol City in 12th and Tottenham in 7th, it’s all to play for in the bottom half of the table.

Relegation rivals Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham also face each other on Wednesday night, whilst Bristol City travel to London for a huge game against Spurs.

Our attention will be on the Midlands though as Villa will want to right the wrongs of November’s defeat at Villa Park and with it being a derby, there will no doubt be a real edge to this fixture.

The match will be broadcast live on the FA Player with a new kick off time of 6:00pm GMT.