Aston Villa have confirmed that their Netherlands international Jill Baijings ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament against Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend.
In a brief news story on the club’s official website, they said that her rehabilitation from the injury would begin immediately, and added: “Everyone at Aston Villa is with you throughout every step of your recovery, Jill.”
The midfielder was replaced in the 75th minute of the match by Miri Taylor, having fallen to the ground a couple of minutes previously after a tackle with Steph Catley.
Both Catley and Baijings immediately waved to the bench to indicate the severity of the injury.
And Baijings’ Villa team-mates surrounded her as the medical team came on to the pitch to treat her, although she did manage to walk off the pitch herself.
It came as Arsenal were coasting through the match on a 1-0 lead thanks to Frida Maanum’s early goal.
However, Lucy Parker scored an equaliser in stoppage time to secure a point for Villa.
Jill Baijings: Sidelined through injury
The 24-year-old first joined Villa on a season-long loan in July 2024, but suffered a back injury in pre-season, meaning she did not make her full debut until January 2025, when she played the second half of a 9-0 Women’s FA Cup win over Bristol Rovers.
“It was really special, these last couple of months were really hard for me,” she told the club’s official website at the time.
“I came new at the club and got injured so that was really hard so making some minutes tonight and scoring my first goal for Aston Villa feels really good.
“I was hoping that we would score a lot of goals first-half so I was like ‘yes, it’s 5-0 I can come in at the break’.
“It’s good that I can play this game and get some minutes – 45 minutes is really good.”
She then made the move from Bayern Munich permanent in July 2025.
She has also played for Heerenveen, SGS Essen and Bayer Leverkusen, and made her senior international debut for the Netherlands in 2021.
Aston Villa: next fixture
Aston Villa travel to West Ham United in the Women’s Super League on Sunday, 5th October.
They are tenth in the WSL table, with two points on the board – from the draw against Arsenal and a goalless draw against Brighton and Hove Albion at the start of September.
They also have a game in hand after the postponement of their match against Liverpool after the passing of Matt Beard.
