The WSL begins this weekend, with all 12 sides facing off on Saturday 1st October.
Opening day fixture list:
Aston Villa V Manchester United | 12:30 |
Everton V Brighton | 13:00 |
Arsenal V Liverpool | 14:00 |
Bristol City V Leicester | 14:00 |
West Ham Utd V Manchester City | 15:00 |
Chelsea V Tottenham | 17:30 |
This is the first of my series for the opening day weekend, and firstly I will be looking at Aston Villa V Man Utd which is the first match of the day.
Aston Villa V Manchester United
Personally, this is my pick of the games of the day. Both teams excelled last season , with United coming 3rd and gaining their first ever Champions League spot.
But- ....Manchester United lost their star striker, Alessia Russo to Arsenal in the summer transfer window (more blogs on this will be linked below!). Just to remind you, Arsenal put in a rumored world record bid for Russo in the January transfer window. United turned down the deal, so Russo ended up staying at the club until her contract expired at the end of last season, and then joined the gunners on a free transfer. So, continuing with the theme let's look at the signings in and out of Manchester United:
Manchester United Ingoing's and Outgoing's
In
Hinata Miyazawa (transfer from MyNavi Sendai)
Evie Rabjohn (transfer from Aston Villa)
Gemma Evans (transfer from Reading)
Geyse Da Silva Ferreira (transfer from Barcelona)
Keira Barry (Academy to professional)
Emma Watson (transfer from Rangers)
Melvine Malard (loan from Lyon for the 2023/24 season)
Phallon Tullis-Joyce (transfer from OL Reign)
Gabby George (transfer from Everton)
Irene Guerrero (transfer from Atletico Madrid)
Out
Alessia Russo (heading to Arsenal)
Ona Batlle (heading to Barcelona)
Emily Ramsey (heading to Everton)
Tara Bourne (heading to Sheffield United)
Jade Moore
Estelle Cascarino (heading to Paris Saint-Germain)
Aissatou Tounkara (heading to Paris Saint-Germain)
Estelle Cascarion (was on loan from Paris Saint-Germain)
Grace Clinton (loaned to Tottenham for 2023/24 season)
Maria Thorisdottir (heading to Brighton & Hove Albion)
Carrie Jones (heading to Bristol City)
Adriana Leon (heading to Aston Villa)
Vilde Boe Risa (heading to Atletico Madrid)
Alyssa Aherne (loaned to Everton for 2023/24 season)
Sophie Baggaley (heading to Brighton & Hove Albion)
Jess Simpson (loaned to Bristol City)
Martha Thomas (heading to Tottenham)
Ivana Fuso (transfer to Birmingham City)
Bella Reidford (dual registration with Burnley)
Keira Barry (loaned to Crystal Palace)
Kirsty Hanson (heading to Aston Villa)
Niamh Murphy (heading to Blackburn Rovers)
Chloe Williams (heading to Blackburn Rovers)
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So, as you can see some considerable outgoings and ingoing's. As I said previously, Alessia Russo is probably the biggest or most well known departing, but let's have a look at some other big exits.
Spanish defender Ona Battle left to go to European champions Barcelona after signing in the Summer 2020 transfer window for the red devils. Battle is a huge defensive loss for the club, as in my opinion she is one of the best defenders in the world- with both the work she does on and off the ball.
However, United did sign Gabby George from Everton as a deadline day transfer. George actually played for the United women's academy when she was going up the ranks - but at that time period the club did not have a professional women's first team, which is actually why she made the move down Merseyside originally.
2nd choice keeper Sophie Baggaley also took a move, down South to Brighton in a move one would assume to get more game time.
Aston Villa Ingoing's and Outgoing's
In:
Daphne van Domselaar (transfer from FC Twente)
Lucy Parker (transfer from West Ham)
Anna Patten (transfer from Arsenal)
Kirsty Hanson (permanent transfer from Man United)
Ebony Salmon (transfer from Houston Dash)
Adriana Leon (transfer from Man United)
Georgia Mullet (Academy to professional)
Out:
Evie Rabjohn (heading to Manchester United)
Remi Allen
Emily Gielnik
Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah (heading to London City Lionesses)
Ruesha Littlejohn (heading to London City Lionesses)
Natasha Harding (retired)
Elisha N’Dow
Sian Rogers (heading to Charlton Athletic)
Hannah Hampton (heading to Chelsea)
Meaghan Sargeant (retired)
Natasha Harding (retired)
Freya Gregory (loaned to Reading for 2023/24)
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As well as United, Villa have also been active in the transfer window. Notably, loosing goalkeeper Hannah Hampton who moved to league winners Chelsea (a move a lot of people found confusing , with Hampton wanting to be in fighting for the England number one spot - moving to a club that already had 2 international level goalkeepers - oh and FYI second choice / rotation keeper Zecira Musovic was the number one choice for 3rd place world cup side Sweden- In addition, [Serina] Wiegman [,England manager] has made it clear she will not build a squad on players who are not getting club minuets) . However, the club where able to get in a top class replacement in Daphne van Domselaar, the Dutch number one keeper on a free transfer from FC Twente. I personally think that DvD is a great replacement for Hampton, and she will bring a level of calmness and certainty to the backline which was slightly disturbed last year for Villa.
Another notable outgoing , which is significant to the match, is Evie Rabjohn, who actually joined Man United on the back end of last season. She was able to do this due to the fact she was still on a 'school girl' contract and so not actually in contract with Villa, a (perhaps sneaky) loophole United used to get Rabjohn mid - season.
Villa also signed Arsenal academy graduate Anna Pattern after she spent a season and a half on loan up at Aston Villa. Pattern trained with Arsenal since a youngster , but never quite seemed to slip into place with their first team squad.
And my one to look out for in the future with the side has to Ebony Salmon , the English forward who I think was unlucky to not get selected for the World Cup squad. She has come back to England to continue her career, after spending last season at NWSL side Houston Dash.
Match score predictions
This is such a difficult match to predict! I am edging towards a United win because of how they finished last season , although I personally believe this match really could go either way!
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Before the weekend I will be doing some more blogs like this, so make sure to watch out for them. And subscribe so you get an email when they begin to come through again ;)
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Lucy x
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