🏏 Sun, 14 Sep 2025 12:00 BST
Aston Villa Women
vs
Chelsea Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Hannah Hampton returns to a familiar ground. Chelsea's 24-year-old England number one came through Birmingham City and Aston Villa before rising to win the FIFA Best Women's Goalkeeper award, and her sharp reflexes, one-on-one work and command of set pieces will now be aimed at the club that developed her.
- The goalkeeping duel at the other end is just as intriguing. Villa's Ellie Roebuck, 25, broke through at Manchester City before an unusual move to Barcelona, and she is a modern keeper comfortable with the ball at her feet. With Chelsea pressing high, how long Villa can keep playing out from the back through her may shape the opening half-hour.
- Rachel Daly remains Villa's headline act at 33. The England striker won the WSL Golden Boot with 22 goals and the PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year award in her first season at the club, and her physicality and finishing instincts still lead the line. She will be shadowed by Millie Bright, the 32-year-old Chelsea captain and WSL appearance record holder whose aggressive tackling and aerial strength make this the game's central contest.
- Alongside Daly is Ebony Salmon, a 24-year-old academy graduate back at Villa after spells with Racing Louisville FC and the Houston Dash in the NWSL. Explosive acceleration and a powerful strike are her calling cards, and she will be probing the space behind a Chelsea back line featuring Sweden centre-back Nathalie Björn, 28, and Ellie Carpenter, the 25-year-old Australian who won the Champions League with Lyon.
- Midfield is stacked with internationals. Chelsea build through Keira Walsh, the 28-year-old England holder signed from Barcelona whose tempo control and long passing are among the best in the game, supported by 20-year-old Dutch international Wieke Kaptein, recruited from FC Twente for her engine and pressing intensity. Villa counter with Missy Bo Kearns, 24, who became Liverpool's youngest ever captain at 20 and won the Young Player award at the 2023 Women's Football Awards.
- Villa's creative hub is Jill Baijings. The 24-year-old Netherlands international, a 168cm attacking midfielder who joined permanently after a loan spell at Bayern Munich, supplies the vision and passing range in the final third. On the left is Kirsty Hanson, 27, a Scotland winger with 42 caps and four goals who sharpened her dribbling and crossing at Manchester United.
- Chelsea's attacking width comes from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, the 28-year-old Swede who has been named her country's Women's Player of the Year. Left-footed and dangerous cutting in from the right, she stretches defences with pace and dribbling. Inside her is Catarina Macario, the 25-year-old Brazil-born United States international and Champions League winner with Lyon, whose technique and penalty-box instincts make her hard to track.
- Villa's bench holds a reunion story of its own. Taylor, the 25-year-old midfielder wearing number 25, made her senior debut for Chelsea at 16 before moving on to Arsenal and Angel City FC in the NWSL. She completed a FIFA-approved switch to represent Scotland in 2025, and an appearance here would pit her technique and game reading against the club where it all started.
- Chelsea's substitutes read like another starting eleven. Sam Kerr, the 32-year-old Australia captain and one of the world's elite strikers, waits alongside Sandy Baltimore, the 25-year-old France winger who came through the PSG academy and beats defenders despite standing just 156cm. Erin Cuthbert, the 27-year-old Scot who joined Chelsea at 18, and Germany's Sjoeke Nüsken, 24, add further quality for the closing stages.
- For Japanese viewers, 21-year-old Japan international Maika Hamano is among Chelsea's substitutes. The right winger arrived via Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies and INAC Kobe Leonessa and won both the Golden Ball and the Silver Boot at the U-20 Women's World Cup. Villa also have Japan forward Hijikata, a Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza graduate, on their books, though she is not in today's squad.
- Villa's defence carries serious continental mileage. Noelle Maritz, the 29-year-old Switzerland right-back, played for Arsenal and Wolfsburg and has reached a Champions League final, while Lynn Wilms, 24, has 56 Netherlands caps and a Bundesliga title from her own time at Wolfsburg. In the middle, 178cm Republic of Ireland centre-back Anna Patten, 26, partners France's Océane Deslandes, 25, who made 66 appearances and scored four goals for Montpellier.