Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward has acknowledged the huge improvement made by latest opponents Leicester City and she is expecting a tough fixture against The Foxes at Villa Park this afternoon.
In the Barclays Women’s Super League table, the two Midlands rivals are separated by 19 points with Aston Villa occupying fifth position and Leicester City sitting in last place. All of The Foxes’ points have come in 2023 with new boss Willie Kirk bringing an improvement in results.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Aston Villa head coach Ward said that Leicester City will be far from easy opponents for her side this afternoon.
“They’re a massive threat,” Ward said. “I’ve been in a dogfight myself with Blues and I’ve made the players aware all week that when you are in a dogfight and you’re fighting for your life in a relegation scrap, you have to do everything that you can to get as many points as possible.
“It’s going to be a really tough game. Leicester have picked up, they’re making it difficult, they’re lively, (Janina) Leitzig in goal has been sensational for them, so it’s not going to be an easy afternoon.
“League positions mean absolutely nothing. There are seven games to go and they need points, so it’s going to be huge. We will have to be absolutely at our best to take three points.”
Taking into account Leicester City’s recent improved form, Ward went on to say that she expects the East Midlands club to avoid relegation back to the Barclays Women’s Championship.
She said “I absolutely do, we discuss these things like everybody does, I think they will beat the drop. They’ve shown a lot of promise over these last few games.
“They’ve got a really young, energetic group and an unbelievable keeper who has won them some points recently. I think they’ll have just about enough points to stay up.”
Aston Villa’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Leicester City kicks-off at 2pm. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.