Seagull Strikers

Our first home game of the season is against Aston Villa at the Broadfield Stadium and will be shown live on Sky Sports at 12pm. I imagine it was a contender to be played at the Amex, but the Women’s Rugby World Cup—where England play the day before and New Zealand face Ireland on Sunday—likely ruled that out. Despite it being televised, please do come over to Broadfield and give the team your support.

Brighton vs Aston Villa games were tightly contested last season, with that memorable 4–2 win juxtaposed against the 3–1 loss at the end of the campaign. As one of our “rivals” for the “best of the rest trophy”—if Arsène Wenger considers fourth place a trophy, then I can too—winning this game would set an important marker early in the season. Villa may see this as a must-win, considering they host Chelsea and Liverpool before travelling to London to face Champions League winners Arsenal. That’s a tough start! Hopefully, a Brighton win gives them a difficult September.

Like most WSL sides, Villa have had an active transfer window. Despite losing record WSL appearance holder Jordan Nobbs, they’ve added quality to their squad. Jill Baijings joins permanently from Bayern Munich after impressing on loan last season, and her experienced international teammates Lynn Wilms and Océane Deslandes also bolster the Villains’ ranks. The versatile Dutch defender Wilms, with over 100 appearances for Wolfsburg, adds further Champions League experience. Deslandes offers depth and quality to a defence that underperformed its xG last season.

Young Japanese striker Maya Hijikata may hope to bring her “Hijikata dance” celebration to Birmingham. Described as “one for the future” by their sporting director, she’s expected to gradually take over the number 9 role from Daly. It’s unlikely we’ll see her start on Sunday.

They’ve also added a WSL winner in Ellie Roebuck, who returns after two appearances with Barcelona. I really hope she has a good season with Villa—from September 8th onwards, of course—as it’s been a tough couple of years for her, dealing with multiple injuries and a stroke. I suspect D’Angelo will start, given Roebuck has only played twice since May 2023, but I expect she’ll end the season as their number one.

Villa have managed to retain 2022 Euros winner and last season’s top scorer Rachel Daly, defensive stalwart Anna Patten, and attacker Kirsty Hanson. Former Seagull Katie Robinson has gone on loan to Everton, though she was mostly limited to substitute appearances last season.For those new to the WSL, Villa’s sixth-place finish is deceptive. They had a dreadful start, taking until November to secure their first win—against Crystal Palace with a last-minute goal—and went on a seven-match winless run shortly after. There were genuine fears of relegation among fans, players, and the manager as late as March, before a five-match winning streak earned them 15 of their 28 total points. Their record signing Nunes struggled to score, and they were heavily reliant on Daly’s goals. When Plan A failed, they simply threw on Katie Robinson or Ebony Salmon. It was a far cry from the previous season, when they looked capable of breaking into the top four.

They conceded a lot of goals last season, but the underlying numbers are more positive than they appear. Their defensive xG was 33.92, yet they conceded a whopping 43 goals—a huge disparity. In fact, they faced far fewer shots than Brighton but still conceded three more goals. Most attacks came down their left (41%), but most shots were faced through the middle. Nikita Parris’ FA Cup double last season typifies the kind of goals Villa concede, and I expect Seike will be a strong candidate to score in this game. It all depends on which version of Villa we face—and whether we can replace the goals usually scored by Nikita Parris.Villa have been in good form during pre-season, beating Liverpool 5–1 with five different scorers and winning 1-0 against Union Berlin but also drew 1-1 against Leicester.

In broader news, Aston Villa enter this season having sold their women’s team to a sister company. Reportedly, this was done purely to avoid PSR breaches for the men’s team, rather than to attract new investment—though they are open to selling a 10% minority share. Everton have also sold their women’s team, but with the hope of attracting an American investor and developing their women’s side—an attractive proposition given they have Goodison Park. It’s a shame the women’s teams are being used this way, and the handling at Villa suggests the women’s team isn’t a priority. The optimist might hope it eventually leads to greater investment in the women’s game, but I wonder whether this Villa team will be overtaken in the next couple of years.

Essentially, if last season is anything to go by, Brighton face a Jekyll-and-Hyde team. If we face the Aston Villa of April and May, we’re up against a dangerous side. But if we face the version that leaks goals and struggles to threaten, we may be in for the perfect start.

This is also a game where we may glean how Vidosic sees his team setup. Will Haley start up front after her hat-trick, or will Michelle Agyemang get the nod? Who will be the centre-back pairing—or will we see a back three? Will Kirby start in a deeper role this season? I’m excited to see how Brighton line up and look forward to their progress this season.