Aston Villa Women v Birmingham City Women preview: kick-off time, team news and form
Aston Villa Women host Birmingham City Women on Wednesday 28th October 2026, with kick-off at 7.30pm at Keys Park. It's a West Midlands derby with a twist, as Villa's Group A fixture in the WSL Players Cup takes place at Birmingham's own home ground rather than Villa Park or Bescot-type neutral venue - but make no mistake, this one is being staged as a home game for Villa.
There's plenty at stake in the group phase. Villa currently sit second in the WSL Players Cup Group A table with a perfect record from three games, level on nine points at the top alongside Manchester United. Birmingham, by contrast, are well off the pace down in 11th place in the wider standings, having won just one of their three group matches so far. For Villa, victory here would keep the pressure on at the top of the group, while Birmingham will see it as a chance to kickstart their campaign.
In terms of domestic league form, Villa come into this sitting 8th in the Women's Super League, a solid mid-table position as they continue to build on a promising season.
Villa's form in the Women's League Cup reads WWW across their last three outings, with wins away at Nottingham Forest, at home to Newcastle and most recently away at Burnley. It's been an efficient run that underlines their perfect group record in this competition.
Birmingham's recent League Cup form has been far more mixed, reading LLW. They suffered back-to-back defeats to Everton and Liverpool before bouncing back with a comprehensive win away at Durham in their last outing, offering some encouragement heading into this trip.
Looking at the bigger picture, Villa have been in excellent all-round form, going WDWWW in all competitions across their last five fixtures, including league wins over Liverpool and Everton either side of their cup victory at Burnley. Birmingham's record in all competitions over the same period reads LLDWW, with a draw against Arsenal followed by wins over Durham and Charlton Athletic suggesting they may finally be finding some momentum of their own.
There's no team news to report ahead of this one, with both sides expected to arrive at Keys Park full of confidence following recent results. Villa will be keen to maintain their unbeaten start to the group phase, while Birmingham will look to build on last time out.
You can follow all the action from Keys Park with kick-off at 7.30pm on Wednesday 28th October.
Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
