Leicester (W)
- Leicester (W) have lost five consecutive competitive games, conceding 13 goals and scoring one.
- Leicester are bottom with 9 points from 16 games.
- Rick Passmoor’s side have taken on a more compact approach this season and have played more to stay up than anything else.
- They set up with a deep block, low pressing intensity and look to play quick on the break when Villa overcommit.
- Leicester will have to stay compact and wait for chances to counterattack.
Aston Villa (W)
- Aston Villa (W) have also lost their last five, conceding 22 goals and scoring six in all competitions.
- Aston Villa Women are the slightly stronger of the two sides in poor form and they head into Sunday’s early Super League Women contest against Leicester (W) as slim favorites.
- Villa have the points to avoid a relegation battle in 2025-26, occupying ninth with 17 points from 17 matches.
- Kirsty Hanson has nine league goals for Villa and can be their focal point on Sunday when Natalia Arroyo’s team looks to press Leicester into mistakes, win the ball high up the field and play vertical, direct soccer.
Head-to-Head
The head-to-head record shows that these two teams are prone to swapping the momentum of their matchups with Villa winning 5-0 in March 2023 and Leicester exacting revenge with a 3-0 victory in February 2025 .
Key Players
- Janina Leitzig has had to keep the score down on too many occasions this season as Leicester’s defence has struggled, conceding 13 goals and scoring just one in their last five matches.
- Hence, Leicester will look to frustrate, counter and hope to get lucky at the other end where they have a new-found hope in January signing Alisha Lehmann, who has pace and creativity to make a difference.
- Sarah Mayling’s loan move from Villa to Leicester adds a subplot to this matchup as she could cause problems for her parent club in a different way to the one intended.
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Players to watch:
- Janina Leitzig
- Alisha Lehmann
- Kirsty Hanson
- Sarah Mayling
- Rachel Daly
- Lucy Staniforth
Betting Insights
- We would recommend taking Over 2.5 goals in this contest at around 1.65 because both defences have been leaking goals in their recent games and Villa have scored six in their last five games.
- The two draws in their last four meetings make us think that this game could go either way, but the form and the odds make the Villans worth supporting.
Prediction
- We’re taking Villa to win this tight game on a close score of 2-1 because there is enough about the way each team plays to suggest this won’t be a blowout.
- Rachel Daly’s quality and leadership at the point of attack, coupled with Lucy Staniforth’s engine in midfield, means Villa have the talent to come through tight situations when they need to and that should be enough to see them through against Leicester.
