Tottenham Hotspur Ladies can jump ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion into third place in the Women's Super League with three points on Sunday, when they travel to Banks's Stadium.

Hosts Aston Villa Women are currently nine points clear of rivals Birmingham City, but at the bottom of a four-team tie on 10 points due to their poor goal difference.

Match preview

Aston Villa need to bounce back in the league after a heavy 5-0 defeat against Manchester City before the international break, a game which the visitors just could not get a foothold in, only recording one shot in the 90 minutes.

Carla Ward's side did put that result behind them when they returned to action last weekend in Group A of the League Cup, and they smashed Championship outfit Sunderland 7-0 with a strong side fielded.

That may give Villa a much-needed boost in front of goal, having only scored more than one goal in one game this season which came on the opening day when they beat Leicester 2-1.

The home side are most certainly not going to be able to score another seven this weekend, and they will need to take their chances when they come, as Spurs have one of the best defensive records in the division.

Rehanne Skinner's side have not yet been able to get back on the field after the international break like their hosts on Sunday, meaning that their last outing came three weeks ago against rivals West Ham United.

A 69th-minute strike from the Hammers' Dagny Brynjarsdottir was enough to seal three points for the home side and Tottenham are now on a four-game winless run in the WSL.

Spurs have not been a high-scoring side this season, but they had managed to score in every game they played across all competitions this season until they faced their London rivals.

Tottenham have fallen out of the top three for now, but three points on Sunday could put them right back into contention to switch places with the Seagulls again, while they must also be wary of the teams below them as they are only two points above the two teams in fifth and sixth.

Villa did manage to get the better of Spurs in the last meeting between these sides in February, when Mana Iwabuchi, now of Arsenal, scored in the 12th minute and that is how the game was settled.

Team News

Villa are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Alisha Lehmann leading the line and aiming to open her WSL account for this season.

Marisa Ewers will continue her run in the team starting alongside Chloe Arthur and Remi Allen in midfield, with Arthur and Allen adding a lot of WSL experience to Villa's side.

Tottenham's Kit Graham was replaced after 30 minutes against West Ham and she is unlikely to start on Sunday, with her replacement on that day Chioma Ubogagu also a doubt for this weekend after she could not complete that match after coming on in the first half.

Angela Addison could make her first start for Spurs this season in an attacking three with Rachel Williams and Kyah Simon, with left-back Ashleigh Neville also providing a creative spark from the wing.

Centre-back Molly Bartrip has played every minute of every game in the WSL so far this season, and she is certain to start along with Kerys Harrop in the heart of Spurs' defence.

Aston Villa Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Pacheco, Asante, Sargeant, Mayling; Ewers, Arthur; Petzelberger, Allen, Boye-Hlorkah; Lehmann

Tottenham Hotspur Ladies possible starting lineup:
Korpela; Neville, Harrop, Bartrip, Ale; Cho, Clemaron, Percival; Simon, Williams, Addison

We say: Aston Villa Women 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur Ladies

Tottenham will be confident about keeping a clean sheet on Sunday as Villa have not got a high-scoring record in the division this season, and that will mean that the visitors only need one goal to win the match.

That suits Skinner's side having picked up many of their points this season by keeping clean sheets, and they will not want Brighton to open up a bigger gap to third spot.

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