Arsenal vs Aston Villa Continental Cup: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction
By Ali Rampling
The final Continental Cup quarter-final takes place on Thursday, as five-time champions Arsenal face an Aston Villa side attempting to reach the last four of the competition for the very first time.
The Gunners have a proud history in the Conti Cup, winning five of the first seven renditions of the competition between 2011 and 2018, with their most recent success coming in 2018.
Villa have never progressed past the quarter-finals, but are enjoying the season of their life in the WSL. The fixture will also see new Villa signing Jordan Nobbs return to Meadow Park for the first time since she recently called time on her 12 years at Arsenal to sign for Carla Ward's side.
Where to watch Arsenal vs Aston Villa Continental Cup on TV/live stream
When is kick off? Thursday 26 January 19:45 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Meadow Park
TV channel/live stream? FA Player (UK, international)
Referee: Carl Brook
Arsenal team news
Arsenal remain without long-term absentees Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, as the pair continue their comebacks from ACL injuries. But the Gunners could hand debuts to their three January signings Victoria Pelova, Kathrine Kuhl and Sabrina D'Angelo.
Aston Villa team news
Villa will be without first choice centre-back pairing Dan Turner and Anna Patten - the former suffered a concussion against Manchester City last time out, while the latter cannot feature against her parent club Arsenal as per the terms of her loan agreement.
Lucy Staniforth is also unavailable as she is cup-tied, having already featured in the Conti Cup group stages for former club Manchester United earlier this season. Simone Magill, Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Tash Harding remain long-term absentees.
Arsenal vs Aston Villa score prediction
Arsenal ran out comfortable 4-1 winners when the two sides met in the WSL in December - but this came against a much depleted Villa, who were in the game for much of the contest.
This time, Villa will be a little short in the centre of defence due to the loss of both Patten and Turner - and that could ultimately be telling.