🏏 Sun, 16 Nov 2025 12:00 GMT
Aston Villa Women
vs
London City Lionesses
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
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- London City line up with Saki Kumagai (35) at centre-back. The Japan captain has passed 162 caps and struck the winning penalty in the 2011 Women's World Cup final shoot-out, before collecting 19 trophies at Lyon including five Champions League titles and later playing for Bayern Munich and AS Roma. Her anticipation and organisational voice hold this newly assembled back line together.
- Beside her stands Italy's Elena Linari (31), freshly named in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 Team of the Tournament. She has won the Spanish league with Atletico Madrid and Serie A with Fiorentina, and like Kumagai she spent part of her career at AS Roma. Two aerially dominant veterans in the middle of defence give London City their clearest strength.
- Nothing says more about London City's ambition than Grace Geyoro (28). The France midfielder has 102 caps and made 270 appearances with 54 goals as captain of Paris Saint-Germain before joining for a fee reported around one million euros, a world record for a women's transfer. Her box-to-box running will decide who controls the middle third.
- The visitors' attack pairs Sweden's Kosovare Asllani (36), a striker with 205 caps and 50 international goals, with England's Nikita Parris (31), a Euro 2022 winner. Asllani brings the craft honed at Real Madrid, PSG and Manchester City, while Parris offers the raw acceleration she showed at Lyon and Arsenal, where she once led England's scoring in World Cup qualifying with six goals.
- Villa counter with Rachel Daly (33). In her first season at the club she won the WSL Golden Boot with 22 goals and was voted PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year, and at 168cm she uses her physicality to hold possession high up the pitch. Her running battle with Linari and Kumagai is the headline duel of the afternoon.
- Villa's midfield mixes pedigree and youth. Missy Bo Kearns (24) became Liverpool's youngest ever captain at 20 and won a young player award in 2023 for her passing range. Alongside her, Taylor (25) debuted for Chelsea at 16 and has since played for Arsenal and Angel City in the NWSL before switching her international allegiance to Scotland in 2025.
- Kendall (21) completes the picture. She racked up more than 100 appearances for Southampton and was named player of the match on her England debut in October 2025. Out on the left, Scotland winger Kirsty Hanson (27), a 42-cap international with four goals, supplies the dribbling and crossing that turn Villa's midfield control into chances.
- Villa's defence is stocked with Champions League experience. Full-backs Lynn Wilms (25), a 56-cap Netherlands international, and Switzerland's Noelle Maritz (29) both reached a Champions League final during their time at Wolfsburg. France's Oceane Deslandes (25) patrols the centre after 66 games and four goals at Montpellier, with Canada's Sabrina D'Angelo (32), a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, behind them.
- Both benches can swing the closing stages. Villa hold back academy graduate Ebony Salmon (24), a striker whose pace was sharpened in the NWSL, while London City can introduce Maria Perez (23), a 2023 World Cup winner who swept every trophy at Barcelona, and Katie Zelem (29), the former Manchester United captain renowned for her set-piece delivery and midfield control.