Aston Villa will welcome Durham at their home ground, Poundland Bescot Stadium on Sunday in a 6pm kick off, in match week 3 of the Continental Cup.
The FA Women’s Championship side Durham will travel to the Midlands hoping to take
three points off another WSL side. Lee Sander’s side have already caused a cup upset
after beating high flying Manchester United on penalties earlier this season.
Aston Villa and Durham were placed in Group A of the Continental Cup alongside
Manchester United, Everton and Sheffield United. Each side will play each other once,
with the team placed first going through to the quarter finals. There is another quarter
final place up for grabs for the best ranked second placed team from the groups.
The two teams last met in November 2020, in the same competition, when The Villains
snatched a 4-2 win on penalties after the game finished 1-1.
Durham are currently first in Group A after penalty shoot-out wins against Manchester
United and Sheffield United. Aston Villa are placed second after losing their opening two
games against Manchester United and Everton on penalties.
Penalty shootouts have been a recurrence in the competition so far as draws aren’t
allowed, so games go straight to penalties!
Beth Hepple is Durham’s leading scoring, netting four times for the Wildcats this season
and will be one for the Villains defence to watch. The 26 year old has been at the club
for over a decade and will hope to be on target again on Sunday. Two of Hepple’s goals
have come in the Conti Cup this season.
Carla Ward’s side comes into the game in good form as they have won back to back
games to put them 5th in the WSL table. Last week Villa hosted Reading at Villa Park in
a 3-1 victory, with Rachel Daly coming up with a hat-trick to ensure all three points.
If Durham want to get anything out of the game they will have to ensure they keep Villa
star player, Rachel Daly quiet. The versatile England player, who has been playing
striker for Villa, has found the net eight times this season, putting her joint top scorer of
the WSL alongside Bunny Shaw.
Durham come into the game off an impressive 5-1 win over Coventry United. The result
will provide ‘The Wildcats’ with much needed optimism as they face opposition from the
league above.
The game will be broadcasted live on the FA Player from 6pm (GMT) which is available
for free to all fans.
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