Manchester United Women begin their 2022/2023 League Cup campaign with an away trip to Aston Villa on Saturday. Our group B stage opening game follows an impressive start to the WSL season; having achieved two wins out of two.
United ran out 2-0 winners against West Ham on Sunday, thanks to goals from Lucia Garcia and Hannah Blundell to sit second in the table. This followed our 4-0 win against Reading on the opening day of the season.
The Red Devils have never won this trophy before but will see this as another step in their development in achieving success at the highest level of the women’s game.
We have a good record against Villa having not lost or conceded in our last six meetings with them and will be hoping to continue that trend on Saturday lunchtime. Our previous fixture back in April saw us drawing 0-0 at the Poundland Bescot Stadium. The reverse fixture saw United emerge victorious with a 5-0 scoreline.
Manchester United Women Team News
For United, Aoife Mannion and Rachel Williams still remain out through injury with no indication of when they might return. Grace Clinton, who missed the most recent win against West Ham, is expected to make her debut if she has recovered in time.
Manager Marc Skinner is expected to make changes to the squad to give fringe players much needed game time. Sophie Baggaley, Aïssatou Tounkara, Maria Thorisdottir, Jade Moore, Vilde Bøe Risa, Nikita Parris, Adriana Leon and Martha Thomas will all be looking to feature.
Manchester United’s Women Predicted Lineup
Baggaley; Batlle, Tounkara, Thorisdottir, Blundell; Moore, Clinton, Bøe Risa, Parris, Leon, Thomas.
Opposition Preview
Aston Villa Women gained promotion back to the WSL in 2019/20 and have remained in the division for the past two seasons. They have finished tenth and ninth in those seasons respectively.
They have started their WSL campaign in good form; having achieved a 4-3 home win against Manchester City on the opening day of the season. They followed this up with an impressive 2-0 win against Leicester City on Sunday to currently occupy third spot in the table.
Kirsty Hanson is currently on a season long loan from United at Villa hoping to benefit from more game time.
Aston Villa Women Team News
For our opponents, they remain without the services of long term absentees Remi Allen and Simone Magill. Ruesha Littlejohn will not feature either. Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Natasha Harding will be assessed before kick off to see if they can play any part. Head coach Carla Ward could opt to make changes but it is expected she will field a strong lineup against United.
Prediction
This is a a trophy that United would like to win this season; much like Villa. The competition will enable United to utilise their squad depth. Even with those expected changes to the lineup, the Red Devils will have enough to get past this Villa side.
Aston Villa Women 1-2 Manchester United Women
