Brighton & Hove Albion Women v Arsenal
THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal open their WSL season away at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday lunchtime. There has been plenty of turnover since they last played a competitive game in May with Manu Zinsberger, Laia Codina, Beth Mead, Katie McCabe, Rosa Kafaji, Victoria Pelova, Jenna Nighswonger and Vivienne Lia all having left the club.
But Arsenal have been busy with incomings with Georgia Stanway, Elisa de Almeida, Geraldine Reuteler, Misa Rodriguez, Lisa Baum, Ona Batlle, Selina Cerci and Isa Damm all joining the club. It’s one of the biggest off season churns since Laura Harvey left the club and was replaced by Shelley Kerr in 2014.
Brighton are, unwittingly, in something of a swift transition too. Previous manager Dario Vidosic left the club less than a fortnight ago and has been quickly replaced by former Real Sociedad coach Arturo Ruiz. Brighton have been troublesome opponents for Arsenal in recent seasons and they will also face club legend Lia Walti for the first time after her summer move from Juventus.
For Renee Slegers’ team, the mission statement for the season is clear- win the WSL for the first time since 2019. Arsenal have a very tough opening block of games with United, City and Chelsea on consecutive weekends in September and October. But Brighton away has been a really tricky fixture for the Gunners in recent seasons and I would expect nothing more on this occasion too.
TEAM NEWS
Daphne van Domselaar is back training on grass but will not be available after having knee surgery earlier in the summer. Kyra Cooney-Cross returns to the squad after a few months of compassionate leave. Katie Reid and Michelle Agyemang are not yet back from ACL injuries sustained last winter. Summer signings Georgia Stanway, Geraldine Reuteler, Misa Rodriguez, Lisa Baum, Ona Batlle, Isa Damm and Selina Cerci are all available. The game comes a little too soon for Elisa de Almeida.
Available squad
GOALKEEPERS: 16.Misa 28.Borbe 40.Damm
DEFENDERS: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 6.Williamson 7.Catley 22.Batlle 24.Hinds 31.Holmberg
MIDFIELDERS: 4.Stanway 8.Mariona 10.Little(c) 12.L.Maanum 14.Reuteler 32.Cooney-Cross
FORWARDS: 9.Foord 11.Smith 18.Kelly 19.Baum 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius 29.Cerci
Out: 1.van Domselaar 5.De Almeida 17.Agyemang 26.Reid
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘I think they’re a good team. They know when to press and press aggressively and make space small quickly, but they also know how to be patient and and make it really compact in front of their goal. It’s been hard games for us (against them). We acknowledge that we we won the game at the Emirates last season but the other two weren’t the results we wanted.
‘We look forward to the challenge and we know that there’s things that they will make hard for us. And of course, there’s a big belief in what we’re doing at the moment, the quality that we possess and the different tools that we have to use on Sunday. So I really look forward to it again. Brighton are unpredictable and they always had ideas against us, so we try to prepare for things, but Dario would do something different anyway.
‘That’s something we have to be really good at on Sunday as well that we have to plan for certain scenarios, but also know that there might things happening on the pitch that we haven’t prepared for and then we have principles that we can lean back on and and we can problem solve in a moment. That’s something that’s been typical for our games against Brighton anyway.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met in May, Fuka Tsunoda gave Brighton a first half lead before Frida Maanum’s second half equaliser led to a 1-1 draw. When the teams met at Emirates Stadium last season, a Marisa Olislagers own goal was enough for a 1-0 win for the Gunners.
THE OPPOSITION
Brighton were- and still are- tipped to be a significant disruptor in the top half of the WSL. Arsenal lost at home to Brighton in the FA Cup last season, were held to a draw away from home and squeaked a narrow 1-0 win at the Emirates thanks to an own goal last October. The Seagulls also defeated the Gunners 4-2 in May 2025. In short, they have been a thorn in Arsenal’s side of late.
They signed Lia Walti from Juventus during the summer and it will be great to see such a well respected, long-term player for Arsenal again. However, the Seagulls’ pre-season was thrown into disarray recently when highly respected coach Dario Vidosic resigned- he is linked to a role in the NWSL. However, as ever with Brighton, they seemed very prepared for the eventuality.
They immediately hired Spanish coach Arturo Ruiz to replace him and, knowing Brighton, it was likely a contingency they already had in mind. Brighton have many different ‘faces’, with Renee Slegers suggesting that even with Vidosic in place, one of the difficulties of facing Brighton is they have a range of different game plans. The Gunners have not won in Crawley since November 2023. This will be another difficult fixture.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Arsenal made a number of high profile signings this summer, one of the chief among them was Georgia Stanway from Bayern Munich. Stanway has been dropping deep between the Arsenal centre-backs to distribute the ball from deep during pre-season and looks set to at least alter the way Arsenal build up from the back and remove some of the onus on Kim Little and Mariona to do more than one job in midfield.
Stanway has excellent deep progression but she is also far more inclined to use big diagonal switches of play from deep positions, compared to Little and Mariona who are very much tika taka five-a-side players. Stanway will use big switches to the wings quickly from deep positions and I expect this to add a different dimension to Arsenal’s build up.
As well as this, Stanway has a nice mixture of being WSL experienced but also has a four-year absence from the league and is returning at the age of 27 with a point to prove. She also hasn’t won the WSL since 2016 when she was 17 years old. The two-time European Championship winner is a significant addition to the Arsenal squad and I expect her to show that this season.
MY PREDICTED LINE UP
Subs: 3.Wubben-Moy 9.Foord 12.L.Maanum 19.Baum 25.Blackstenius 28.Borbe 29.Cerci 31.Holmberg 32.Cooney-Cross
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match kicks off at 12noon on Sunday at Crawley Town’s Broadfield Stadium. You can watch on Sky Sports Football in the UK.
COMING UP
We will have the team line-ups posted an hour before kickoff, Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report, every word of Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference and Tim and Jamie will have a podcast for you on Monday. We will also produce an in-depth tactical analysis piece on the game too.
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