Aston Villa vs West Ham Women Preview: Villa host Hammers at Villa Park

Aston Villa Women are back in action on Sunday as they welcome West Ham to Villa Park in their final home game of the Women’s Super League season.

The two sides are deep into a relegation battle and every point counts as we head into the closing stages of the campaign.

The Villans are currently 11th in the table on 13 points whilst the Hammers are a point clear in 10th.

Last time out

Marcus Bignot’s side were last in action midweek against local rivals Birmingham City in what was their game in hand.

They took the lead in the first half through 18-year-old Freya Gregory and it seemed they were going to walk away with all thee points.

Similar to their 2-2 draw against Bristol City last weekend, a late equaliser in stoppage time meant the points were shared and they were unable to pull away from the bottom of the table.

The Hammers also played Wednesday night but fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

The last meeting

Due to fixture postponements, the two sides met for the first time only a couple of weeks ago on Tuesday April 20.

West Ham were in good form after beating Reading 5-0 in their previous game, but a goalless draw in London kept things tight in the relegation battle.

A must-not lose

With Arsenal on the last day of the season, it’s fair to say that Villa need to pick up at least a point against West Ham on Sunday if they’re to cement their spot in the top flight.

Bristol City host Manchester United in the later kick-off before they travel to face Brighton next weekend.

Two difficult games, but if City were to pick up points and Villa were to lose their two remaining fixtures, it could be the Villans who fall back into the Championship next season.

Bignot on West Ham

Speaking to Aston Villa, the interim boss said: “Prior to our previous encounter, I said West Ham’s position in the league surprises me, but they are there for a reason.

“It’s going to be a difficult challenge, but we’ve shown a side to us in the previous game that will be needed again.

“We’ve seen in our last two games what is going to be required to win a game.”

The game will be broadcast live on both the FA Player and Villa TV.