The curse of the draws, who will blink first in group A of the FA WSL Cup as Aston Villa host Durham at the Poundland Bescot Stadium?
With none of the five sides yet to pick up three points in 90 minutes, a win for either Villa or Durham, will stake a real claim in the competition.
Durham currently top the group A table after back-to-back penalty shootout victories whilst Villa sit just one point behind the leaders with one shootout victory.
Last time out in the competition, Villa succumbed to a penalty shootout defeat after Everton’s Aggie Beever-Jones equalised to send the game to the deciding spot kicks.
For the away side, Durham picked up a 95th minute equaliser against Manchester United to send the game to penalties, defeating Marc Skinner’s side 3-1 and headed straight to the top of the group.
Both sides come into the game off the back of respective league wins with Carla Ward’s side securing a 3-1 comeback victory at Villa Park against Reading, moving up to fifth in the WSL table.
Lee Sanders’ side also helped themselves to a convincing away win after defeating Coventry United 5-1 at Butts Park Arena.
Heading into the game, Villa head coach Ward will have a tough selection headache after admitting to their current battles with squad depth.
In their previous league win, on loan Kirsty Hanson limped off with the help of the physios after colliding with goalkeeper Jackie Burns, but Ward was unsure on her condition.
“We have a ridiculously long injury list at the moment, we could do with shortening it, so we need to hope and pray it’s [Hanson’s injury] not serious.
“We’ll change what we can, but we want to make sure we win the game as well.”
Despite a long list of injuries, Ward confirmed that one recent absentee will return.
“Hannah [Hampton] will play, it’s the perfect chance to get her back in and get a run of games.”
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter some time on the side lines, Hampton has been replaced with substitute keeper Anna Leat and has now provided the coach with questions over the number one spot.
“[Anna] Leat has done really well, it’s an important thing to mention, Hannah is an exceptional young keeper.
“Anna has taken her opportunity whilst Hannah’s been away, they’ll push each other now and it’s a real opportunity for them both, it’s a really good position to be in, two young keepers pushing each other every day.”
Despite a lack of squad depth, Ward confirmed that their side will go through a couple of changes and could potentially see youngsters Isobel Goodwin and Georgia Mullett start after making their debuts in the WSL.
“We’re delighted we managed to get Issy and Georgia off the bench for their debuts.
“We had three fit players on the bench today so I’d imagine those three will play, we can’t change much more than that because we simply don’t have the bodies right.”
In their previous WSL Cup meeting, Villa came back to send the game to penalties where they secured a 4-2 win, claiming the additional point.
The two sides also previously met in 2019 in the Women’s Championship where Villa once again came back from 1-0 down to secure a point at home.
Both sides will be hoping to re-write history as they look to secure the first win of the group on Sunday, November 27 at the Poundland Bescot Arena.
