🏏 Sun, 4 Oct 2026 14:00 BST
Aston Villa Women
vs
Crystal Palace W
3-4-2-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- A bottom-half meeting with early survival implications: Villa sit 13th on two points from four matches (0W-2D-2L) with just three goals scored and ten conceded for a goal difference of minus seven, while Crystal Palace are ninth on five points (1W-2D-1L, GD minus six). Three points separate them, and with leaders Manchester City already on 12, neither side can afford to stall.
- Their opening months have followed different patterns. Villa drew 1-1 away at Chelsea on matchday one and 1-1 again at Brighton in round three, but were beaten 4-1 at home by Manchester City and 4-0 at Tottenham last time out. Palace opened with a 1-0 home win over Everton and a goalless draw at Arsenal, then shipped seven at home to Spurs before a wild 3-3 at Birmingham.
- Both managers have set up in a 3-4-1-2, making the four-player midfield bands the key battleground. Villa push natural right-backs Noelle Maritz (30, Switzerland international who reached a Champions League final with Arsenal and Wolfsburg) and Lynn Wilms (26, 56 caps for the Netherlands) wide, with Justine Kielland (23, Norway holding midfielder, signed from Wolfsburg) and M. Taylor (26, Scotland, formerly of Chelsea, Arsenal and Angel City) inside. Palace counter with Fuka Tsunoda at the base and centre-back Molly Bartrip tucked into midfield.
- Akane Okuma, 22, starts in goal for Villa. A product of the JEF United Chiba Ladies academy, she won back-to-back WE League Player of the Season awards at INAC Kobe Leonessa before moving to England in July 2026, and she made her Japan debut in 2025. Fellow Japan forward Maya Hijikata (22), a WE League champion with Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza where she posted seven goals and six assists, waits on the bench.
- Palace anchor their midfield with 21-year-old Fuka Tsunoda. She collected five domestic trophies at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa Reds Ladies, including two WE League titles, before beginning her English career with Brighton in September 2025. Her reading of danger and aggressive ball-winning high up the pitch will determine how often Palace can turn possession into attacks on Okuma's goal, giving the game a compelling Japanese subplot.
- Palace lead the line with 32-year-old Beth England alongside 21-year-old Abbie Larkin. England won both the WSL Player of the Year and the PFA Players' Player award during her Chelsea days and moved in January 2023 for a then domestic-record fee of £250,000. She faces a Villa back three of Mathilde Harviken (24, Norway international who played at the 2023 World Cup and Euro 2025, signed from Juventus this summer), Oceane Deslandes (26, 66 games and four goals at Montpellier) and the 178cm Anna Patten.
- Villa pair Denmark international Amalie Vangsgaard, who arrived via Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, with ex-Ajax forward C. Grant up front. Behind them is 22-year-old Lucia Kendall, named Player of the Match on her senior England debut in October 2025 after more than 100 appearances for Southampton. Her technique and timing of passes are central to fixing a return of three goals in four league games.
- The goalkeeping contrast is striking. Palace have 34-year-old France international Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, who won five trophies across four and a half seasons at Juventus from 2021 and joined on loan from NWSL side Denver Summit in August 2026, returning to the WSL for the first time since her Arsenal spell. At the other end stands Okuma, 12 years her junior and still in her first months of English football.
- The benches reflect each club's recruitment. Villa can call on 19-year-old Scotland attacker Mia McAulay, who debuted at 16 for Rangers and made over 100 appearances there before this summer's move, plus USA Under-20 right-back Katie Scott (19). Palace hold Sierra Enge (26) in reserve, a Stanford graduate taken in the second round of the 2023 NWSL Draft who played 44 matches for Strasbourg and became Joe Potter's first signing.