What Natalia Arroyo believes Aston Villa need to improve on to break into top four

Natalia Arroyo Aston Villa midseason report card WSL

Aston Villa are once again sitting just outside the top four in the WSL, but Natalia Arroyo thinks she knows how her team can finally break into the race for European football.

While they have been good this season, Villa lack the consistency needed to challenge for a top four spot.

Consistency is key for Aston Villa

Aston Villa are sixth in the WSL and they can only dream of competing for a top four spot right now.

Natalia Arroyo’s team are six points adrift of Manchester United in the table but with two wins in their last three games they are closing the gap slowly.

In terms of consistently competing amongst the league’s best, Villa’s Spanish boss believes she has the answer to their problems.

“When you analyse the league, maybe the first feeling you have is ‘okay, there’s three or four contenders, they are really fighting for the title’. Even if Chelsea were winning the titles, there were different seasons where it was super tight,” Arroyo explained.

“That was the ambition from the beginning, knowing that we are still not there, but we want to be there.

“Our first step is focus on the consistency, winning the type of games we feel we must win and let’s try to compete to disrupt these top four, to be able to really make them suffer against us.”

Villa have been consistent this season but not in the way Arroyo wants. The team has won four, drawn four and lost four as they reach the midway point of a disappointing campaign.

A turning point in Villa’s season?

Having picked up two of their wins in their last three games Villa will feel they have turned a corner in their season.

A huge game is coming up next for Arroyo and co. who face Manchester United at Villa Park on Sunday.

A win for Villa would close the gap to three points behind United and with Arsenal playing Chelsea on Saturday, they could gain ground on at least two of the top five.

The top four hopefuls have signed two players in the January window so far.

Oriane Jean-Francois joined from Chelsea and she was quickly followed by Arsenal’s Jenna Nighswonger.

The added WSL experience is sure to assist Villa in their push for the top four and all eyes will be on their clash against United this weekend.

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About Oliver Taliku 511 Articles
Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites where he has produced hundreds of articles, as well as being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in women's football as well as long form SEO content plus news and tips. While he enjoys writing about all football, Olly supports Arsenal passionately as a lifelong fan of the club.