Liverpool have been one of the most consistent outfits in the Barclays Women’s Super League throughout the 2023/24 season, and as the campaign nears its end, Matt Beard’s side have every chance of cementing a top-half finish just two years after returning to the top flight.

The next obstacle that stands in their path is a trip to Aston Villa this weekend, and Beard used his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon as an opportunity to pile on the praise for his managerial counterpart.

The Villans endured a slow start to this league campaign, falling to five consecutive defeats in their opening games and lingering at the bottom of the WSL table for the first month of the season.

But as Villa boss Carla Ward detailed in her press conference earlier on Friday, her side have gone under the radar since – and now find themselves just three points off the top half of the table.

“Carla has done a great job ever since she’s been there,” explained Matt Beard on Friday, as he addressed the media from Liverpool’s AXA Melwood Training Ground.

“If you look at the start of season, they had a lot of key personnel missing which is going to have an effect on anyone. I think if you look at Man City a couple of years ago and the start they made with of all the players that were out injured.”

“Obviously, they’ve got Rachel Daly missing through suspension and Adriana Leon’s going to be missing as well [due to the CONCACAF W Gold Cup] so that’s a big positive for us. But Carla’s done a fantastic job. I knew they’d be comfortable, and you’ve just got to look at the players that they’ve got in their team. It was just a matter of time.”

There are a number of notable absences for Liverpool too though, perhaps most significantly with Taylor Hinds still sidelined through injury.

“Taylor Hinds is still out,” Beard explained, later adding that “Taylor has been a miss. Her character is fantastic but she’s probably weeks away from playing so there’s no tug of war. It’s just step by step with her at the moment. She had a bit of a setback this week so we’re probably looking like six weeks now.”

“It’s a blow because she’s been ever present for me since the Championship. But Jas [Matthews] is doing really well and has stepped up to the plate so we’ve got cover in that position.”

Hinds’ absence isn’t the only one that Beard has to deal with ahead of Liverpool’s trip to the Poundland Bescot Stadium though, as the Reds manager told reporters that “Shanice van de Sanden’s picked up a bit of an ankle problem, so she won’t be in the squad. But apart from that, everyone should be available.”

Both Liverpool and Aston Villa remain in cup competitions, with the Reds set to host Leicester City on March 9 while the Villans head to Meadow Park to face Arsenal in midweek.

Beard acknowledged the importance of his side’s participation in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, but insisted that his team “are not looking at anything other than Aston Villa on Sunday. Once we’ve got that out of the way, we will turn our attention to the next one. We just take it game by game – we’ve just got to keep moving in the right direction, and I think for the most part of this year, we’ve done well.”

A second-half strike from Ceri Holland was enough to see Liverpool past Brighton and Hove Albion before the international break, and Beard is keen to build upon that momentum – especially given the context that surrounded the victory at Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium.

“It was important that we got back on track, and we picked up three points. It was a tough game. You just lost your footing underneath every time you passed it. We had to adapt everything that we had worked on throughout the week before the game slightly and be a little bit more direct,” he explained.

“Obviously, it helps having Sophie [Román Haug] because she wins every head that goes up there. Obviously, Brighton had made a change of manager and I think Mikey [Harris] has got them playing some really good stuff.”

Liverpool will look to further cement their position within the top half of the table by picking up three points against Aston Villa on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 14:00 GMT, and the match will be broadcast live on the FA Player.