Aston Villa Women have confirmed their starting XI to face Manchester City at Villa Park in the Women’s Super League.
Natalia Arroyo makes one change from the side that earned an impressive 1-1 draw away to Chelsea on the opening weekend.
Anna Patten comes into the starting XI in place of Nozomi Hijikata and also takes the captain’s armband, with Lucia Kendall retaining her place in the team.
Akane Okuma continues in goal after her outstanding performance at Stamford Bridge, while Amalie Vangsgaard again leads Villa’s attacking options.
Villa kick off against City at 6.30pm, with the visitors arriving after opening their WSL campaign with a 3-1 victory over Birmingham City.
Aston Villa Women confirmed XI vs Manchester City
Aston Villa Women: Okuma; Harviken, Patten (c), Kielland, Wilms, Parker, Maritz, Grant, Vangsgaard, Kendall, McAulay.
Substitutes: Hijikata, Mullett, Deslandes, Taylor, Scott, Kelly.
Patten’s inclusion is the headline selection decision from Arroyo.
She was among the substitutes for Villa’s opening-day draw at Chelsea, when Hijikata started, but she now comes straight into the side and assumes captaincy duties.
Our previous confirmed-XI coverage showed Kendall wearing the armband at Stamford Bridge, meaning Arroyo has also made a notable leadership change for Villa’s first home league game of the campaign.
Akane Okuma keeps Aston Villa Women place
There was never likely to be much debate over Okuma’s position.
The goalkeeper produced an exceptional competitive debut against Chelsea and played a major role in Villa claiming their first-ever WSL point against the champions.
Our Aston Villa Women player ratings from the Chelsea draw rated Okuma at 9.5/10 after she made nine saves during the 1-1 draw.
Arroyo has consequently kept faith with the Japan international for another major test.
Patten decision changes predicted Aston Villa XI
We had expected Arroyo to make limited changes after the Chelsea performance.
Our predicted Aston Villa Women XI against Manchester City included Okuma, Harviken, Kielland, Wilms, Parker, Maritz, Grant, Vangsgaard and Kendall, but Patten’s introduction represents the key difference from our prediction.
Supporters unable to attend can find TV channel and live-stream details for Aston Villa Women vs Manchester City, with the match being shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. Manchester City’s official guide also confirms the 6.30pm BST kick-off at Villa Park.
Villa now have another opportunity to test themselves against one of the WSL’s strongest sides after their encouraging start at Chelsea.
