Chelsea Women v Arsenal Preview
THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge at 4.30pm on Sunday to take on Chelsea in the WSL. The season has not started how Renee Slegers and her charges will have wanted, they have only scored three goals in their first four games of the season in all competitions. They rested eight players for the visit of unfancied Danish champions HB Koge on Tuesday night but needed a stoppage time penalty from Mariona to take the points.
Playing against low blocks has proved to be a significant issue for Arsenal this season. While Chelsea are highly unlikely to stack 9-10 players in their penalty area as Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Koge have, Chelsea have significant counter attacking threats and could easily hold a solid defensive shape before going in behind to Alyssa Thompson quickly.
Having dropped presentable points at home to Palace and United and with a trip to defending champions Manchester City next weekend, this feels, if not ‘must win’, certainly ‘must not lose’ for the Gunners. These games have tended to show a better side of the Gunners; they drew at home to Chelsea last season but comfortably beat them away and eliminated them in the Champions League quarter-finals last season.
Confidence appeared to be low as they struggled to break Koge down in midweek. After Chloe Kelly’s first half goal was disallowed, belief seemed to slowly drain from the team. It remains to be seen how much Mariona’s stoppage time penalty lifts them for this game. In truth, this is not a game that should require a lot of ‘lifting’ for. A lot of ‘lifting’ will be required if the team fall to their first defeat of the season here.
TEAM NEWS
Elisa de Almeida (muscle strain), Daphne van Domselaar (knee), Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid (both ACL) are unavailable for Arsenal in this game.
Available squad
GOALKEEPERS: 16.MISA 28.Borbe 40.Damm
DEFENDERS: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 6.Williamson 7.Catley 22.O.Batlle 24.Hinds 31.Holmberg
MIDFIELDERS: 4.Stanway 8.Mariona 10.Little 12.L.Maanum 14.Reuteler 32.Cooney-Cross
FORWARDS: 9.Foord 11.Smith 18.Kelly 19.Baum 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius 29.Cerci
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘We know what the games are like against Chelsea. Both home and away they’re fights and we want to bring ourselves to the game, that’s most important to us. We know the qualities that they possess, the intensity that they can bring to a game. We can do that too, so it’s going to be a big game. It’s going to be a game where two teams are really going to go after it, so it’s going to be an exciting game, an entertaining game. We want to control things in the right moments, so I want to be and need to be ready for the fight on the pitch.
‘We look at last season, them, us. We look at this season, them, us, and then put the puzzle together and then focus on ourselves and what we want to bring to the game. I think there were some really good things we did in those games and it was a positive outcome overall across four games last season. I think everyone knows what I’m going to say now. This is a new game, a new season, and things are different.
‘I love it, whether it’s easier or harder. There’s just so much detail, and I just enjoy that process, getting ready for this game. I think players on the pitch know each other. Sonia [Bompastor] and me have played against each other several times now, so we’ve seen how it plays out against each other. I love it. Like I said, I look forward to Sunday, and the process towards it I’m enjoying. We know each other well, so let’s see how both teams are going to come out on Sunday.’
LAST TIME OUT
The teams last met in the Champions League quarter-finals in March. Arsenal bagged a 3-1 home win in the first leg thanks to goals from Stina Blackstenius, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo. Nusken’s late goal in the second leg wasn’t enough to overturn the deficit. In the WSL, the Gunners were 2-0 winners at Stamford Bridge in January thanks to second half strikes from Beth Mead and Mariona.
THE OPPOSITION
There have been some similarities between Chelsea and Arsenal’s WSL starts. The Blues were held to a surprising 1-1 draw at home to Villa on the opening day despite creating a host of chances. This midweek they, like Arsenal, toiled to an unimpressive 1-0 home win over an unfancied side, with Chelsea eventually vanquishing Austria Wien.
Keira Walsh went off injured in that game and her fitness feels pivotal for Chelsea for this game. However, the Blues also ran all over Manchester United 5-0 away from home on matchday two and that helped to inform United’s cautious approach at the Emirates a week later. Much like Renee Slegers, Sonia Bompastor seems to have reached a pivotal season in terms of how she will be judged.
A domestic treble in her first season in charge has given her credit in the bank, much in the same way that winning the Champions League has done for Slegers. However, Chelsea are, like Arsenal, in the midst of a rebuild having lost huge players and leaders like Sam Kerr and Millie Bright. Like Arsenal, they balked at the price points for a number of attackers this summer before spending on Melvine Malard in attack, who, for my money, is a very strong acquisition. Arsenal and Chelsea feel like clubs in broadly similar patterns at the moment.
PLAYER TO WATCH
One of the few bright spots from a limp performance on Tuesday was the performance of Kyra Cooney-Cross in midfield who won the UEFA Player of the Match. In the Arsenal Women official Whatsapp channel, Kyra drew 3,900 votes for Player of the Match. In second place, Leah Williamson had 357. That shows you that the Australian’s performance was noticed.
The question is whether it wins her a place in the starting line-up at Stamford Bridge. On form, there is no question that she should. Kim Little and Mariona are yet to play at the standard we are accustomed to so far this season. Georgia Stanway has come into midfield and added some different and important elements to the engine room. But it feels like it hasn’t totally settled yet, especially with continued change in the number 10 position.
So the question comes as to whether you select on form or select according to the game plan and in the interests of speeding up the integration of a ‘new’ midfield. Kyra has very similar qualities to Stanway but given the ponderousness of Arsenal’s build-up recently, having two quick long passers might not be the worst thing. Both started the game at home to Crystal Palace. How Slegers’ selection shakes out here will be intriguing.
MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Subs: 3.Wubben-Moy 9.Foord 10.Little 14.Reuteler 18.Kelly 25.Blackstenius 28.Borbe 29.Cerci 31.Holmberg
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match takes place at 4.30pm on Sunday at Stamford Bridge and will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. Full global listings for the game are available here.
COMING UP
Sunday
• Line-ups posted an hour before kickoff
• Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report
• Every word from Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference around an hour after full-time
• Opinion piece on the game on Sunday evening
Monday
• Post-match podcast with Jamie and I
Next week
• We will be on the ground in Paris with all our usual coverage for Arsenal’s Champions League tie away at Paris FC
• Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Arsenal Women Newsletter, which should go out on Thursday next week.
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