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Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool have their best opportunity of the season to pick up a much-needed three points.
LIVERPOOL WOMEN VS. ASTON VILLA WOMEN
| Sunday, November 6th|
WSL | Prenton Park
1:00PM BST/9AM EST
And we go again. After a difficult run of games to begin their return to the WSL, Liverpool host Aston Villa at Prenton Park on Sunday afternoon. While they didn’t win last week against Manchester City, there were definitely some positives to take from the match.
First and foremost, Liverpool scored a beautiful goal from open play — their first of the nascent WSL season. Another positive was the brief appearance of Shanice van de Sanden in her first league game back with the team. Manager Matt Beard confirmed that van de Sanden is currently only available for 30-40 minutes as she builds up her fitness levels. Still, that’s great news for the injury-ravaged front line.
But of course, because this is Liverpool and they exist to cause us pain, it’s one step forwards and two steps back when it was announced that Ceri Holland will be out for up to four weeks due to injury. Holland has been one of the Reds’ best players so far, and missing her in the midfield will be a huge blow to the team.
Aston Villa have had a similar start to their season as the Reds. After two good wins to start the campaign, they’ve lost their last three matches, putting them in 8th place. If Liverpool can grab three points from them, then they could get out of 10th place and into a more comfortable spot higher up the table.
Villa travel to Merseyside without several key first team players including: Meaghan Sargeant (back), Remi Allen (knee), Emily Gielnik (calf), Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah (knee), Simone Magill (knee) and Ruesha Littlejohn (foot). This makes it the perfect opportunity for Liverpool to start collecting some more points.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup:
Laws; Flaherty, Fahey, Campbell; Koivisto, Matthews, Furness, Hinds; Kearns, Lawley, Stengel
What the Managers Had to Say
Matt Beard: “We can never take anything for granted, it’s a tough league with lots of good teams. We believe in ourselves, we have confidence in ourselves. We have been dealt one or two cruel blows injury-wise at the start of the year and maybe that has had something to do with maybe the chances we’ve had and not converted. But I think we’re in a good place going into this run of fixtures.”
Carla Ward: “They started really well against Chelsea on the opening day. [Matt Beard] is a great guy, great coach. He knows how to get his team ready for games, it’ll be a difficult afternoon. We’ve got to keep focusing on what we do well.”
Kickoff is set for 1PM BST/9AM EST tomorrow. Stick with The Liverpool Offside team to keep yourself up to date with team news and match buildup, live updates, and post-match reaction. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account and have your say on the action as it happens.
