PREVIEW: Aston Villa v Chelsea | OneFootball

Vitality Women’s FA Cup holders Chelsea will begin their defence of the trophy when they travel to The Banks’s Stadium for a fourth round tie against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Blues regained the trophy last month after defeating Arsenal 3-0 in the 2020/2021 final at Wembley Stadium. They will now begin their journey in this season’s competition with a tricky tie at Aston Villa.

The injury and illness situation at Aston Villa has improved significantly in recent weeks and head coach Carla Ward has almost a full squad available to her. Australian international forward Emily Gielnik continues to be away at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 and is therefore unavailable while Ward will check on the fitness of a couple of her players before naming her starting XI.

Vitality Women’s FA Cup holders Chelsea travel to the Midlands without Ji So-yun and Sam Kerr who are away on international duty. The Blues continue to be short on squad numbers with captain Magda Eriksson and defender Maren Mjelde remaining sidelined through injury and with German midfielder Melanie Leupolz suffering from the effects of long COVID.

The Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie between Aston Villa and Chelsea kicks-off at 1pm on Saturday afternoon. Card only turnstiles will be in operation at The Banks’s Stadium.