Aston Villa Women: Rachel Daly and Kenza Dali need goalscoring burden taken off shoulders
Aston Villa duo Rachel Daly and Kenza Dali have hit the ground running since their summer transfers to the west midlands, but they need their teammates to chip in with more goals during the second half of the WSL season.
Daly, 31, is the joint top goalscorer in the WSL so far this year alongside Manchester CIty’s Khadija Shaw with eight goals, averaging an expected 0.89 goals per game and sitting on an impressive 27% goal conversion rate. [BBC Sport]
After scoring a double in Aston Villa’s opening-day victory over Manchester City, the Lioness scored the winner against Liverpool and netted a sublime hattrick against Reading. Daly’s form under Carla Ward even saw her played as a central striker for England in November after featuring as a left-back during their successful run at the Euros.
Meanwhile, Dali has added a creative spark that Carla Ward’s side desperately missed last season since her summer transfer from Everton, netting three times in all competitions and providing her teammates with six assists already.
The pair have been a thorn in the side of WSL defences up and down the country, and the pair’s imaginary selfie celebration has become a common sight for fans almost every weekend.
It is a strange thought, but Villa’s star duo taking to Claret and Blue so impressively has actually led to the club’s most worrying weakness.
The team’s dependence on the duo for creativity and goals in the attacking third is reaching a critical level, and if one were to succumb to an injury, it would leave Villa in dire straights.
Daly and Dali have incredibly played a part in all 13 of the club’s league goals this season, while Dali has played the highest number of completed passes in the final third throughout the whole WSL. [Sofascore]
Although both have remained fit so far this season, the likes of Remi Allen, Natasha Harding and Ruesha Littlejohn have shown that injuries can strike at the worst of times and can have a profound impact on the team.
The likes of Kirsty Hanson, Alesha Lehmann and Emily Gielnik must find a way to impose themselves on matches more often and start adding more goals and assists to their games if Villa are to progress in the league.
With the January transfer window fast approaching, Ward may consider dipping into the market and searching for a dependable source of goals which can take the burden off Villa’s two prized assets.
In other Aston Villa news, Kaine Kesler-Hayden can play second fiddle to Matty Cash in 2023/24 season.