The international break in the men’s game means that the women’s game takes centre stage this weekend. One clash taking place for the very first time in the WSL is the Birmingham derby. In this tactical analysis, we will preview how Aston Villa Women and Birmingham City Women could play, analysing both sides’ attacking and defensive strengths and weaknesses, as well as their key statistics, setting us up nicely for what could be a very interesting game.
Aston Villa Womens attack
The first thing this analysis will look at is Aston Villa Women’s attack. In the image below, we can see how they set up to attack with a front three; a key part of their tactics.
Here, against Reading Women, Aston Villa are attacking centrally, but have two runners either side. In this way, they always have passing options available, making it harder to stop them, not only because there are two possible passes that could be made, but also because Aston Villa stretch their wide attackers as far apart as they can, using the space on the wings. Reading’s defence is narrow here, so Aston Villa don’t need to move too far apart, but, if the defence had a wider structure, then Aston Villa would still play on the outside of it, ensuring that they constantly control the width against their opponents. This gives them a key advantage in getting the ball into the space behind, which is something Birmingham City Women will need to watch out for.
However, despite making two high profile attacking signings over the summer, in Denmark striker Stine Larsen and Portugal forward Diana Silva, Aston Villa still lack a goal threat at times. Sometimes, this is down to their opponents defending well, but this image shows how they have space to create a goalscoring chance in. However, Larsen, in the red circle, doesn’t make the final pass accurate enough, meaning that Brighton and Hove Albion Women can clear the ball. This is one example, but not the only one, of Aston Villa getting into a good position and then wasting the opportunity by not getting the final pass right. Against Birmingham, who have shown themselves this season to be a difficult side to break down, they will need to make these chances count, because they may not come too often.
