Aston Villa Women: Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth highlight their worth in Tottenham win
Aston Villa got off to the dream WSL restart as they battled from behind to claim three points against league rivals Tottenham at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.
The crunch clash (Saturday 14 January) was an opportunity to see January recruits Lucy Staniforth and Jordan Nobbs in action for the first time, and boy, they didn’t disappoint.
As the team news dropped an hour before the match, fans were thrilled at the sight of both midfielders in Ward’s starting line-up, who played beside Kenza Dali in a midfield three. This pushed Laura Blindkilde-Brown into a front three alongside Kirsty Hanson and Rachel Daly, but the tactical shift worked a treat.
What Aston Villa have lacked over large portions of the season is the ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck and dominate proceedings from the off. They have often succumbed to superior teams and been happy to sit back in a low block and catch teams on the counterattack.
However, with Nobbs at the base of the midfield and proving herself happy to take the ball off the back four and spread the play, Villa had a route to this type of domination against Tottenham.
It, therefore, comes as no surprise to see the match-passing stats surpass any number Villa have managed to achieve so far this season. The 560 total passes recorded by the hosts was 50 more than their next highest total recorded this term (520) against Reading.
The experience that both the ex-Arsenal legend and Staniforth bring to the midfield was clear for all to see. The home side dominated the ball throughout and produced some sublime passages of attacking play from the midfield.
Villa’s superiority was so great in the early stages – despite being stung by a Bethany England goal after half an hour – that they held a 63% share of the ball in the first half.
It is easy to get carried away by the immediate impact the midfield duo had on proceedings, and a more accurate test awaits against high-flying Manchester City on Saturday (21 January). It will be interesting to see how Nobbs, in particular, looks to dictate play against Gareth Taylor’s side and if a league double is possible following the 4-3 victory on the opening day of the season.
Both players seem to fit like a glove into Ward’s midfield, and it will be exciting to see how far they can progress this burgeoning Villa side in the coming months.
In other Aston Villa news, this one first-team player could quickly become a fan-favourite after his brilliant performance against Leeds in the Premier League.