On Sunday, Aston Villa Women will welcome West Ham United Women to the Bescot Stadium for a Women's Super League encounter.
The hosts enter the fixture in ninth position, while the Hammers sit a couple of places higher in seventh spot.
Match preview
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In their last WSL outing, Aston Villa edged out Leicester City thanks to a Molly Pike own goal and Alisha Lehmann's stoppage-time winner, which guided Villa to a 2-1 victory.
It proved to be an important victory as not only did it end a run of four consecutive defeats in all competitions, it also moved Carla Ward's side nine points clear of danger.
They were, however, eliminated from the FA Cup last weekend as Chelsea ran out 3-1 winners, with Aston Villa's main highlight from the encounter proving to be a Ramona Petzelberger spot kick in stoppage time.
Ward and her team will now turn their attention back to league matters, and they will be looking to pick up their second home win of the season after losing their last seven competitive home fixtures.
The Villains have conceded 11 goals in their five home league games, but they have also struggled in the final third after scoring just three goals at home, but Ward will be hoping that the prospect of consecutive league victories is just the incentive needed to achieve a positive home result.
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West Ham head into the contest six points clear of their opponents, but they will be looking to bounce back after losing to Chelsea in their last league outing.
They did progress in the FA Cup last weekend as a Claudia Walker brace, as well as goals for Melisa Filis and Dagny Brynjarsdottir. helped the Hammers to a 4-1 victory over Sheffield United.
West Ham face an away trip to Reading in the next round of the cup, but for now they will focus on Sunday's fixture at the Bescot Stadium.
Having picked up just five of their 17 WSL points on the road this term, the Hammers certainly have room to improve away from home, especially as they have failed to score in three of their six away fixtures, while they have only kept one league clean sheet on their travels this season.
A victory on Sunday would be West Ham's second away league win of the season and it could result in the Hammers climbing into the top half of the league table.
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Team News
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Aston Villa are without the services of Chloe Arthur and Rachel Corsie, who will both miss the game due to illness.
Following her return from the Asia Cup, Emily Gielnik is expected to come into the starting lineup for Sunday's contest.
Jill Scott made her debut for the Villains last weekend after joining on loan from Manchester City, and she will keep her place in the side for the West Ham clash.
Meanwhile, the trio of Adriana Leon, Maisy Barker and Grace Garrad are unavailable for West Ham.
Harder is likely to opt for a back three made up of Lucy Parker, Grace Fisk and Hawa Cissoko.
Brynjarsdottir is expected to return to the starting lineup for Sunday's away trip and the Iceland international will be partnered in the front line by Walker.
Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Mayling, Patten, Asante, Pacheco; Blindkilde, Scott, Allen; Lehmann, Petzelberger, Gielnik
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Leat; Parker, Fisk, Cissoko; Wyne, Filis, Snerle, Svitkova, Longhurst; Walker, Brynjarsdottir
We say: Aston Villa Women 2-1 West Ham United Women
Although Aston Villa have struggled at home this season, the extra quality added in January - with Anna Patten and Jill Scott joining on loan - has undoubtedly improved their squad, and we think that they will build upon the Leicester victory to edge out a West Ham side that usually struggle on their travels.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United Women win with a probability of 57.85%. A draw had a probability of 21.4% and a win for Aston Villa Women had a probability of 20.73%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United Women win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.86%) and 0-1 (8.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.89%), while for an Aston Villa Women win it was 2-1 (5.52%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-2 win for West Ham United Women in this match.
