Arsenal Women will look to snatch top spot off Bayern Munich Women when the two sides face off in Wednesday's Women's Champions League game at Meadow Park.
The Gunners head into matchday six in second position with 12 points to their name, while the German champions are just one point better off in pole position in Group C.
Match preview
Arsenal Women's Alessia Russo in action on November 21, 2024© Imago
Renee Slegers boasts an impressive record as Arsenal's interim boss, having overseen nine victories in 10 competitive matches (D1), including four wins in the UWCL.
After losing to Bayern under Jonas Eidevall's watch, the Gunners got their European campaign up and running with a commanding 4-1 win over Valerenga in Slegers's first game in charge.
Arsenal went on to claim a 4-0 away win over Juventus, before they edged out the Italian side in the return fixture to seal a top-two spot with two games to play.
The Gunners then travelled to Norway for last week's clash with Valerenga, with Alessia Russo netting a brace in a 3-1 victory to keep her side in the hunt for top spot in Group C.
Russo found the net again in Sunday's Women's Super League away meeting with Liverpool, scoring the only goal of the campaign to extend Arsenal's winning run to nine consecutive matches while ensuring that they will go into the new year in the WSL top three.
The Gunners will now turn their focus to their final match of the calendar year, knowing that only a win will be good enough to win their UWCL group ahead of Bayern.
Bayern Munich Women's Georgia Stanway in action on November 4, 2024© Imago
Bayern have made amends for last season's group-stage exit, having put together a five-game unbeaten run in the current competition to seal their place in the quarter-finals.
The German club got up and running with a 5-2 home win over Arsenal, before beating Juventus and Valerenga without conceding.
Their 100% record was ended by a 1-1 draw in their away meeting with Valerenga, but the result proved enough to seal a quarter-final spot with two games left to play.
Bayern had no trouble claiming all three points in last week's home clash against Juventus, with Jovana Damnjanovic, Pernille Harder, Klara Buhl and Alara Sehitler all finding the net in a 4-0 victory, leaving them in position to secure top spot in Group C.
They went on to claim a 2-0 home win against Turbine Potsdam in Sunday's Frauen-Bundesliga encounter, taking their unbeaten run to 11 matches in all competitions, and if they continue that streak on Wednesday, they will advance to the knockout rounds as group winners.
Arsenal Women Women's Champions League form:
Arsenal Women form (all competitions):
Bayern Munich Women Women's Champions League form:
Bayern Munich Women form (all competitions):
Bayern Munich Women form (all competitions):
W
D
W
W
W
W
Team News
Arsenal Women's Frida Maanum celebrates scoring on November 16, 2024© Imago
The Gunners will go into their final game of 2024 without the services of Lia Walti, Victoria Pelova and Amanda Ilestedt.
Midfielder Kim Little is pushing for a starting berth after returning from a two-game injury absence to feature as a substitute against Liverpool.
Having scored five goals in the last three matches, Russo will try to continue her fine form when she leads the line against the Frauen-Bundesliga champions.
Meanwhile, Bayern boss Alexander Straus will be unable to call upon Katharina Naschenweng, Lena Oberdorf and Mala Grohs.
Germany international Linda Dallman is a doubt after she was forced to miss Saturday's win over Potsdam due to an ankle issue.
After making some changes at the weekend, Straus could recall Giulia Gwinn, Magdalena Eriksson, Sarah Zadrazil and Damnjanvoic.
Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:
Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Cooney-Cross, Little; Mead, Caldentey, Foord; Russo
Bayern Munich Women possible starting lineup:
Mahmutovic; Gwinn, Viggosdottir, Eriksson, Simon; Stanway, Zadrazil; Buhl, Harder, Lohmann; Damnjanovic
SM words green background
We say: Arsenal Women 1-1 Bayern Munich Women
Arsenal have been in scintillating form since Slegers took over the reins in October, but while they have won each of their last seven competitive matches, we think that they will be held to a draw by a Bayern side that has gone 11 consecutive games without defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
ID:560700:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect14058:
Previews by email
Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!