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Arsenal have won eight of their 12 WSL games against Aston Vila (D2, L2), winning 3-0 back in May in the most recent encounter.

Aston Villa drew 1-1 in their most recent top-flight away game against the Gunners in September last season. They have never gone unbeaten on back-to-back WSL trips to Arsenal.

And that might be a tricky as as Arsenal remain unbeaten in each of their past 22 WSL home games (W16, D6) – the third longest streak in the competition’s history.

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Who wants to make history?

Arsenal will become the second team to score 700 WSL goals (currently 699), after Chelsea (707), if they find the net today.

After conceding late on against Manchester United last weekend, Manchester City fell to the same fate against PSG in the Women's Champions League on Thursday.

Khadija Shaw thought she had given City the win with an 85th minute penalty, but Tara Elimbi Gilbert slotted the ball past Ayaka Yamashita three minutes later to seal a point for the French side.

Andree Jeglertz's side remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, but they'll want to avoid a third successive draw today.

Reigning champions Manhcester City suffered their first blip of the season last weekend, with a 1-1 draw against rivals Manchester United snapping their winning streak.

That allowed Chelsea - thanks to a better goal difference - leapfrog them to the top of the WSL table.

So London City Lionesses will have plenty of motivation to hand the holders their first defeat of the campaign this afternoon. A win would see Eder Maestre's side move into second and establish London City as proper title contenders.

Perhaps it's too early in the season to be talking about title deciding games, but any points dropped now could be crucial in the long run.

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Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa are on a nice mini unbeaten run under their interim manager Brian Sorensen, and haven't lost since old boss Natalia Arroyo departed at the end of September.

In the league Villa have drawn with Crystal Palace and hit back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Everton.

In the Players Cup they've beaten Burnley and, importantly, rivals Birmingham Coty on penalties.

The mood is good in the Villa camp. They could even go above Arsenal in the WSL table with a win today!

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers said Alessia Russo "is everything" after the striker's hat-trick sealed a 3-0 victory over Benfica and made her England's all-time leading goalscorer in the Women's Champions League.

"She is everything. It's hard to know where to start," Slegers told Disney+.

"There is so much to say about Alessia and it is a privilege for me to work with her."

After a slow start to the season that saw her blank in her first five matches, Russo has now scored nine goals in her past seven games for club and country.

Can we expect more goals from her today?

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A week is a long time in football!

Seven days ago Arsenal started the day in the bottom half of the table, four points off fourth-placed Tottenham and 12 points behind leaders Manchester City.

Pressure was building on manager Renee Slegers, but suddenly the mood now looks much, much brighter.

Last Sunday Arsenal got a crucial 2-1 win at their rivals Tottenham, and then on Wednesday thrashed Benfica 3-0 in the Champions League.

Will they make it three out of three today?

It looks like we've got a three-way title race going on at the top of the table, whole Charlton are languishing at the bottom without a single point from their opening seven games.

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Here's what's coming up today...

• Arsenal v Aston Villa (12:00)
• London City v Man City (12:00)
• Birmingham v Tottenham (14:00)
• Brighton v Crystal Palace (14:00)
• West Ham v Liverpool (14:00)
• Charlton v Chelsea (14:30)

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Hayes Lane

It's a big day for Mary Earps as Eder Maestre has shown his trust in her with a first WSL start against the current league leaders and defending champions.

Earps has been a big-game player for England and knows this league well.

She has had to bide her time since joining from Paris St-Germain in the summer with Elene Lete keeping the number one shirt.

But Earps' performances in the Women's League Cup have been enough to prove to Maestre she is ready for a WSL start.

City will look to test her, while London City are likely to try to hurt them on the counter-attack so Earps' distribution needs to be good.

This will be Mary Earps' first WSL appearance since May 2024, when Manchester United faced Chelsea on the final day of the season.

The former England keeper let six goals past her on that occasion, so she will definitely want to avoid a repeat of that today.

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There is one change to the Arsenal side who beat Benfica 3-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Leah Williamson comes into the defence and captains the side with Elisa De Almeida dropping to the bench.

Arsenal XI: Rodriguez, Batlle, Williamson, Catley, Hinds, Cooney-Cross, Stanway, Reuteler, Russo, Foord, Smith.

Subs: Borbe, Fox, Wubben-Moy, De Almeida, Little, Maanum, Baum, Blackstenius, Holmberg.

The Aston Villa side who lost against Everton in the league last Sunday are unchanged.

Aston Villa XI: Okuma, Patten, Harviken, Deslandes, Wilms, Kielland, Jean-Francois, Maritz, Grant, Kendall, Vangsgaard.

Subs: Kearns, Hijikata, Parker, Mullett, Murphy, Imuran, Taylor, Maltby, Kerry.

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Hayes Lane

Eder Maestre makes two changes to the London City Lionesses team who were held to a 2-2 draw at Liverpool last weekend.

It's a first WSL start for goalkeeper Mary Earps, who gets the nod over Elene Lete.

Izzy Goodwin, who scored a hat-trick in the Women's League Cup this week, is rewarded with a start as Freya Godfrey drops to the bench.

London City Lionesses XI: Earps, Fernandez, Perez, Corrales, Van de Donk, Putellas, Arques, Diani, Goodwin, Leon, Geyoro.

Subs: Lete, Pattinson, Linari, Godfrey, Parris, Anyomi, Cascarino, Kafaji, Thomsen.

There is just one change to the Manchester City team who drew with Paris St-Germain in the Champions League on Thursday.

Carlotta Wamser comes in for Kerstin Casparij at full-back.

Manchester City XI: Yamashita, Wamser, Rose, Knaak, Greenwood, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Fujino, Clinton, Hemp, Shaw.

Subs: Cumings, Fowler, Wienroither, Coffey, Casparij, Lohmann, Beney, Prior, Davies

Good morning to you all! Another Sunday, another afternoon packed with WSL action.

We've got six matches coming up today, starting with Arsenal v Aston Villa and a top-of-the-table clash between London City Lionesses and Manchester City.

Kick-off for those games is just 30 minutes away so let's dive right in...

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