The Guardian's Women's Super League 2026-27 preview turns to Aston Villa, tipped by the paper's writers to finish ninth again after a disappointing campaign last season. Under head coach Natalia Arroyo, the Birmingham club remains a promising but unfinished project, having undergone significant squad turnover as she reshapes the team around her preferred direct, counter-attacking style. The main challenges facing Arroyo are replacing the goal output lost through Kirsty Hanson's departure and shoring up a defence that was among the leakiest in the division last season.

Villa lost several established players over the summer, including Sarah Mayling, Sabrina D'Angelo and Ebony Salmon, plus the retirement of Lucy Staniforth, while bringing in younger talent such as Akane Okuma, Kamilla Melgård and Mia McAulay alongside loanee Lily Murphy. Hanson, who scored almost 43% of Villa's goals last season, is a particularly hard loss to offset, though the return to fitness of Rachel Daly and the signing of Amalie Vangsgaard should help. Norway centre-back Mathilde Harviken, 24, arrives from Juventus as the club's marquee signing to address defensive frailties, having won the Serie A title and earned 44 caps including at the 2023 World Cup and 2025 Euros. Off the pitch, Villa's women's team, now operating independently, has expanded fan engagement through initiatives with Level Playing Field, an International Women's Day event and community partnerships in Birmingham.