Our Under-18s return to action on Saturday morning with a trip to Crystal Palace (11am UK).
We’re level on points with the Eagles in second and third respectively going into the weekend, although the hosts are ahead on goal difference.
Both sides are six points behind leaders Chelsea.
General admission prices
Adults: £30.00
Seniors (Aged 65 and over): £22.50
Young Adults (Aged 17-21): £15.00
Junior (Aged 16 and under): £9.00
Tickets marked as restricted view carry a discount of £1 for Adults, Seniors, and Young Adults. Junior tickets remain £9. Please note that if supporters within a group application are successful for a mix of standard and restricted view tickets, seating together cannot be guaranteed, unless there's a safeguarding concern.
Access prices
Adults: £22.50
Seniors (Aged 65 and over): £17.00
Young Adults (Aged 17-21): £11.00
Junior (Aged 16 and under): £7.00
Access pricing includes a free-of-charge personal assistant ticket.
Ticket information
All Season Ticket Holders can now apply online by clicking here or by submitting an application form, which can be obtained from the Ticket Office, no later than 5pm on Monday 16 February. In the event that tickets are oversubscribed for this match, they will be allocated in line with the club's ticketing points scheme.
For this fixture, we will be issuing our allocation as digital tickets. As for home games, a link will be sent to the assigned supporter via email to download their ticket to their Apple/Google Wallet. This link will be sent to the individual successful Season Ticket Holder and not to the lead applicant. Any supporter who is successful with their application and who does not have a compatible device will be able to submit a request to receive a paper ticket. These requests will be monitored, and the ticket may only be available to collect on the day of the fixture at Anfield on production of photographic ID.
Ticketing points: 1
Important information
Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult over 18 years old, otherwise entry will be refused.
The majority of our allocation at Anfield is safe standing. We will contact all successful applicants advising how a ticket in a suitable area can be requested should you not be able to stand throughout the match.
Travel information
Eveliina Summanen will be hoping to continue her strong Women’s Super League record against Aston Villa when we make the trip to Villa Park on Sunday (kick-off 12pm UK).
Fresh from signing a new, long-term contract this week, the midfielder has produced six goal involvements (four goals and two assists) in 10 appearances against the Villans in all competitions, with three of those goals coming in the Women’s Super League.
Two of those three strikes came in a superb brace in our 3-3 draw in April, 2023, while the other was netted in our 2-2 stalemate at Villa Park last term, where the Finland international converted from the penalty spot.
Away from WSL action, Eveliina also found the back of the net against Villa in the Women’s League Cup last term – a 40-yard stunner into the top corner to earn us a 1-0 win at Brisbane Road, a goal that was rightly named our Goal of the Season for 2024/25 campaign.
We tasted success in the reverse fixture earlier this season, but it involved plenty of late drama at Brisbane Road. Kirsty Hanson handed Villa the lead six minutes from time, despite being down to ten, but goals from Bethany England and Olivia Holdt staged a dramatic comeback and secure a 2-1 win.
Following last weekend’s defeat to Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we’ll be looking to return to winning ways this weekend and, if we can pick up three points on the road, it would only be the third time we have won four games away from home in a single WSL campaign, doing so in 2021/22 and 2023/24.
Meanwhile, keep an eye on Julie Blakstad, as, since making her debut at Liverpool last month, the Norway international has created the most chances from open play (five), made the second most interceptions (five) and had the third most touches in the opposition box (10) than any other player from our squad.
One of our great players of the modern era, Jan was back in N17 for a weekend of nostalgia with his family that included a trip up the Dare Skywalk, speaking to his adoring fans at half-time and watching us come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Manchester City - and an exclusive interview for us with presenter and Spurs fan, Ben Haines.
One of only 17 players to reach 200-plus appearances for us in the Premier League and one of only 10 to make over 50 appearances for us in Europe, Jan is also Belgium's record appearance maker with 157 caps between 2007-2024, including winning bronze at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Forming a formidable central defensive partnership with compatriot Toby Alderweireld, Jan made 120 appearances of a possible 152 as we finished third, runners-up, third and fourth in the Premier League between 2015/16 and 2018/19. He also started 10 of 13 matches as we reached the UEFA Champions League Final against Liverpool in 2019, producing one of the great performances topped with a goal as we beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the Round of 16, first leg at Wembley.
Jan signed off with appearance 315 against Newcastle during the Premier League's return in the 2020 COVID pandemic at St James’ Park on 15 July, 2020. Sadly, there were no fans at his final matches in Lilywhite – making his appearance at half-time with Paul Coyte all the more special.
After Spurs, he had spells at Benfica - where he won the Primeira Liga title in 2022/23 - and Anderlecht, where he played for two seasons before retiring at the end of 2024/25.
Jan, it's so lovely to see you back in N17. How does it feel?
Jan: “Yes, very, very good, I’m so happy to be here, so many memories - everything that I see, every street I drive into. I've done a nostalgic tour this morning and yesterday. So, very happy I can share these moments with my wife and my kids.”
The club is such a big part of your life as well, right?
Jan: “Eight years… we had probably the best times of our lives here. I had a very good time. I made lots of friends who I still speak to, which is not very common in football. I still speak to Mousa, Eric Dier, Christian. I forget guys. Ben Davies, obviously. I made some very precious friends over the years.”
You say it's not that common in football - was it a particularly special group, do you think?
Jan: “I don't think that - I know that. It was very special. We even had our breakfast club. We always sat with a big group of guys, just sharing life experiences and thoughts. It was a great group. Honestly, it's the best group of guys I've ever played with, without a doubt.”
Do you know at the time that it's as special as it is? Did you know then that this was something different?
Jan: “I forget Michel Vorm! He's a very close friend of mine. This is why I shouldn't drop any names! We said it loads at the time, we’re complaining about small stuff, but when we retire, we will think about these times. It is true. It's the best group of guys I've ever played with, and probably the best team I've ever been part of. We had some great, great times. Obviously, ups and downs, but I'm almost just positive about everything.”
Coming tomorrow...
Part 2 | Jan: "We felt unbeatable"
Following a pitch inspection this morning, our Under-21s’ Premier League 2 trip to Blackburn Rovers tonight (Friday 13 February) has been postponed.
A new date for the fixture will be confirmed in due course.
Martin Ho spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday morning, ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League trip to Aston Villa on Sunday (12noon UK).
Here are some key points on what he had to say…
On his message to players this week...
"I spoke to a lot of the staff around me, people away from here, and they've said about the performance in the first half and when I’ve looked back at it two or three times, in the first half I thought we created a lot of chances and they need to go in. So, we're proud of that part of the performance but the ruthless edge needs to be there. But then, second half, we had moments again, we had Cathinka's [Tandberg] chance, Olivia's [Holdt] chance and they had a few moments themselves when we opened up and tried to go and push the game. But, overall, I thought there were positives to take from it. Do we want to be better? Yes. Am I happy with losing the game? No. But I think we've definitely taken bigger steps and we've definitely performed well in that first half of the game, but we want to do that for 90 minutes."
On this weekend's opponents...
"We played them in the Subway Women's League Cup and we've played them in the league already - and they've been two really close encounters. We know it's going to be a difficult game when a team comes off the back of defeat, as we've seen with Chelsea, as there's going to be a response. They haven't performed badly in those games because they've been really tight. We know games in this league are tight now. They've just come up short against Everton, they were in a really tight game until right at the end with Liverpool and we know it's going to be a difficult game. They have really strong players, they've got really good goalscoring threats in that attacking third and they’re very good on the break, plus they're very resilient when they defend. We're going to have to be diligent enough to break them down, but we're going to have to be even smarter to make sure that we stop them at the other end."
On trying to unpick Natalia Arroyo's side...
'Tactically, you always want to get one up on your opponents and you want to always try to be one step ahead, you want a solution for every problem they pose you. We know that tactically they can evolve within that structure, it goes in and out of two systems, and they're very versatile and fluid within that midfield to front line. We've got to be aware that we can adapt in the game and we can make good decisions in the moment. But they've also got to think about us at the same time. We need to give them problems in the way they think about us and our players. If we make them think about us more than they're thinking about themselves, then we give ourselves a really good foothold in the game."
On Eveliina Summanen signing a new deal...
"She's key in our build-up and how we play with the ball. She's very influential off the ball in terms of being combative when she's up close in those one-v-one duels. The beauty for Evelina is there's still a lot of work where we feel she can grow within, she can still be better as a player. That's probably the beauty of football. When you have such a player that can still be better, it's only going to benefit us for the success moving forward. To make 100 appearances is very, very impressive because it shows how important she's been to this team and to this club for a long period. She'll continue to play a huge part here now moving forward."
On Hanna Wijk first start last weekend...
"I was delighted with Hanna. I think she's had a bit of an unsettling time. Since she got here, she's had a bit of illness. When you get illness, it obviously sets you back, and then you're trying to build back up again, but she's got herself now in a place where she's training well. We're starting to really see her qualities within the training group. It can be a big game putting someone in for their debut, but I felt Hanna was ready for that. I think her performance in the game was good, she had some moments where she can be better tactically, but I thought for her first game, making her debut, big stadium, derby against Chelsea, against one of the big teams, I thought she performed exceptionally well. She's settling in really well with the group now."
On showing more composure in front of goal compared to our previous encounters against Villa...
"If you're not creating the chances, you're not in the right positions, then I'd be concerned. It's just a little bit of composure and a little bit of confidence in front of the goal, to be more patient and be calmer. Once one of them goes in, I think you have it in games. I think we'll get to a point where everything we hit on target will go in. It's more just the composure and the bravery in front of the goal to make sure that we can be ruthless. There are not big changes needed. It's more the players having that belief and confidence in front of the goal that they're good enough and we're capable of scoring."
On the positives from the first half against Chelsea...
"The braveness to play and the composure we had even when we were under high pressure. The variance in our game to play in front of them and play beyond them. I thought we were very good in terms of when we got between the lines and we broke past their midfield line. I think we got into some really dangerous situations. It's more the courage and bravery to play our way. Whether you win or you don't, you want to see a very clear identity that represents this club. We can look at that from a real positive impact of where we were maybe two or three months ago to where we are now, six months down the line. Also, if you're looking 12 months back from where we were, we took big steps.”
On Julie Blakstad and playing slightly higher against Chelsea…
“She's done that in the early parts of her career. She was a winger, she's played as a number 10, so she actually can play in those advanced positions. It was more to see what we would get out of having a bit more balance down that left side. It was two left-footers on the same side of the pitch, which we've not always had, and Julie being more direct and definitely a threat in terms of what we want. It would also give us balance in terms of when we were defending, if they were going to play really advanced with Ellie Carpenter, it would enable us to nullify that threat maybe at times. I think Julie as an attacking threat gives us a lot. Her crossing ability is really good, her physical capability in the pressing phase is really good, so that gave us a different dimension. It's something we will look at, and there's other players that can do the same.”
On the threat Kirsty Hanson poses…
“She’s a really key player. She’s someone I've worked with before at Manchester United, so knowing her as an individual, am I surprised that she's scoring goals? No, because she's a good player. Am I surprised she's in good form? No, because she works extremely hard. We've seen that when we've played them in the game at home, when she gets behind us and she finishes. I know what Kirsty is as a player and what she can bring. If we allow her the time and space that she wants and she needs, then she'll cause a whole lot of problems.”
Martin Ho has given an update on the potential return from injury of Charlotte Grant ahead of Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
The defender has been out of action since mid-November after picking up an injury in training but has slowly been working back to full fitness, which included a return to running on grass in recent weeks.
This week, she has been back for small parts of training as she continues to step up her recovery for a potential return date ahead of the upcoming international break, but our Head Coach says this ‘game comes too early’ for the Australia international.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Martin was asked if we could see the return of Charli to the matchday squad: “It probably comes too early for Charli, but she will be available next week. She is in full training all next week after being in parts of training the last few days, so she’s close.”
Meanwhile, Maika Hamano will once again be available for selection for our trip to the midlands this weekend after she was ineligible to feature in last Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea due to her loan agreement with her parent club.
Midfielder Drew Spence remains out of contention as she continues to serve her three-match suspension.
Martin will also be without long-term absentees – Ella Morris, Maite Oroz, Jess Naz and Luana Buhler.
On further team news, he added: “Ella has been in parts of training so she's getting closer but, apart from that, Maika comes back in after being ineligible last weekend and Drew still has a suspension, but we are the same as we were [from Chelsea].”
We made it three wins on the trot in the Barclays Women’s Super League when we faced Aston Villa at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium in October, 2023.
After suffering defeat on the opening day of the 2023/24 season to Chelsea, we’d recorded back-to-back wins prior to our trip to the midlands, and we knew a win at the time against Villa would send us top of the WSL table.
But we had to respond after falling behind early – Rachel Daly on target for the home side – and Martha Thomas did it in superb style, curling the ball over Daphne Van Domselaar from 35 yards out, a sublime finish to put us back on level terms.
Ashleigh Neville headed us in front on the stroke of half time before Martha extended our advantage after the break with two more clinical finishes, giving us a 4-1 lead as we entered the final quarter of the game.
In fact, those three goals by Martha was the first time a player has bagged a hat-trick for the Club in the WSL – and remains the only player in Lilywhite to have achieved this in England’s top flight.
Villa’s Lucy Parker netted a late consolation goal, but we held on to make it three wins on the bounce and send us top of the WSL table for a short period of time.
We can confirm that Wilson Odobert has sustained a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The 21-year-old French forward suffered the injury during the first half of our Premier League fixture against Newcastle United on Tuesday.
Wilson will see a specialist next week before undergoing surgery, and will then commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff.
Women’s Academy forward Eloise Summers-Mee has earned her first international call-up as she has been selected to represent Scotland Under-19s this month.
Eloise, who stepped up to the Under-19s at the start of the season from the Under-16s, will join up with Scotland’s youth team at the end of this month for a double-header against Belgium.
Netting twice for the Under-16s in their Professional Game Academy Champions Triumph last season, the forward, who can operate down the middle and on the wings, has registered six goal involvements this term in her first year at PGA level, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
Being named in the 20-player squad for the Under-19s, Gary Doctor’s side will face Belgium twice over a two-week period. The first match taking place on Saturday 28 February at 4pm UK before facing them three days later on Tuesday 3 March at 11am UK.
Congratulations Eloise!
In addition, Women’s Academy player Mehak Khanna is currently with the Scotland Under-17s as they take part in this year’s edition of the MIMA Cup.