By Rachel Gore (13/12/25)
Above: Natalia Arroyo. Photo: @AVWFCOfficial on X.
Eighth place Aston Villa will take on top of the table Manchester City this weekend, straight off the back of a midweek WSL win against Liverpool.
Ahead of their second WSL clash this week, Impetus heard from Villa’s manager Natalia Arroyo who spoke on her team, what Thursday’s win meant and how her team will “find a way of dominating the game”.
All players that were available during Villa’s midweek victory are fit to play tomorrow.
Speaking on this win against Liverpool, Arroyo said that her side “feel a bit relieved” after taking the three points from Liverpool.
Keeping another clean sheet and performing well, Villa came away from Thursday’s game proud. They are however not used to midweek matches and therefore playing this weekend, only days after their last match, is something that could strain their players – having less time to prepare for games can also be a negative.
Despite this Arroyo believes that her side “are in a good place” and are excited to take on City.
As a squad City are “super aggressive when they lose the ball” and “if they put a cross in the box, Bunny Shaw will catch it”.
Their ability to regain possession and effectively attack force opponents “to defend lower and lower”.
Arroyo recognises all these threats that City pose but also knows that this weekend’s fixture against the current league leader is an opportunity to see where her team is at.
She hopes that her squad can make City suffer and trusts her players to perform “in these big games”.
To perform well Arroyo hopes her players will be focused on where the ball is and controlling the match – they need to “stop the noise and focus on performance”.
Arroyo says she hopes her side side will stay “strong” as they have done against other top of the table teams and hopefully will come away with pride.
Villa will face City at the Joie Stadium and kick off at 12:55 UK time. The fixture can be streamed on the Women’s Super League YouTube channel.
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