We’re on our travels for the first time in 2025/26 as we take on West Ham United away from home on Friday night (7.30pm).
At the Chigwell Construction Stadium, we’ll be looking to make it two wins from two following last weekend’s 4-1 win over London City Lionesses at Emirates Stadium.
The Hammers, meanwhile, are hoping to respond to a 1-0 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day.
SUCKER PUNCH
Against her former side, Rehanne Skinner’s West Ham kept Spurs at bay right up until the 86th minute at Brisbane Road, when Bethany England scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
The stats suggest West Ham had plenty of attacking intent without a clinical edge, taking four more shots than Tottenham but only getting one on target.
This season, the Hammers will set their sights on finishing higher than last term’s ninth-place finish, when Viviane Asseyi was their top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions.
In the summer, recruitment was largely focused on midfield and attack, with Sarah Brasero-Carreira, Ffion Morgan and Leila Wandeler all arriving while Anna Csiki was brought in on loan. They did bolster the defence with Yu Endo, though.
We played West Ham just over two weeks ago, beating them 2-0 in a pre-season friendly at Mangata Developments Stadium thanks to two goals from Frida Maanum.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Read more Every word of Renee’s pre-West Ham presser
Slegers: “This game tomorrow will be a different game. Of course, we're going to play away and I think West Ham plays in a different structure. So I think we'll need to use other tools in our toolbox tomorrow, but of course, we always have to be prepared for any scenario.
“I know historically it’s always been a hard game for Arsenal to go to, it’s a hard ground. They play a type of football that they believe in and they’re very disciplined in the way they do things. But we’ll have to be that as well." - Read every word from Renee’s pre-match press conference
Read more Renee: “We need to use other tools in our toolbox”
Skinner: “You’re always expecting a team like Arsenal to have a lot of different attacking threats, with movements that really test your concentration and organisation. The longer games against them go on, the more obvious that becomes. They’ve got plenty of players that can put the ball in the back of the net, so you can’t prevent everything, but we’ll work diligently to reduce the options they have.
"For us, it’s also about what we do when we have the ball. Not necessarily always going forward, but how we control those parts of the game, keep our confidence, and make sure we impose ourselves when we’re in possession."
FACTS AND STATS
West Ham have lost 11 of their 13 WSL games against us (W1 D1), though the sole win did come at home in February 2024 (2-1).
Only Chelsea (12) have inflicted more defeats on West Ham in the WSL than us (11), with us (3.08) averaging more goals per game against the Hammers in the competition than any other side.
West Ham United have lost each of their last three matches in the WSL and could lose four in a row for the first time since November – December 2023 (run of five). The Hammers have won their opening home game in just one of the last five WSL campaigns (D2 L2), defeating Everton 1-0 in 2022/23.
We could win both of their opening two games of a WSL season for the first time since 2022/23, after we failed to do so in 2023/24 and 2024/25. Indeed, prior to this we had won our opening two league games in each of the previous five campaigns.
We have trailed in three of our last four WSL matches, coming from behind to defeat London City Lionesses last time out on MD1. It’s as many occasions as we had trailed across our previous 18 games in the competition.
On MD1, Olivia Smith became the first player to score on her WSL debut for us since Jill Roord in September 2019. Smith’s goal against London City Lionesses ended a move of 19 uninterrupted passes, with the last Arsenal goal in the WSL to have a longer sequence of passes in the build up coming back in May 2023 (Victoria Pelova vs Brighton – 26 passes).
West Ham United’s Shekiera Martinez has scored 10 goals across her 13 appearances in the WSL, with the German’s 10 strikes more than any other player has managed in the competition this calendar year.
After providing two assists against London City Lionesses on MD1, Beth Mead became the first player to reach a half century of assists in the WSL (51). Mead has provided seven assists against West Ham in the top-flight, her most against a single opponent.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Megan Wilson has been appointed to take charge of Friday’s fixture. It will be her first time seeing over a game involving us in the WSL.
Referee: Megan WilsonAssistants: Phoebe Horner and Dan SykesFourth official: Ella Broad
LAST TIME WE MET
We persevered to find the breakthrough against a stubborn West Ham defence, winning 2-0 in pre-season courtesy of a Frida Maanum double.
Our second-half pressure paid off when Jenna Nighswonger crossed for Maanum to head home in front of a bouncing North Bank at Meadow Park, before Pelova found our Norwegian forward on the counter-attack to make it two.
HOW TO WATCH
Away tickets have now sold out so, for those who won’t be watching the game in person, take a look at the list here to see which broadcasters are showing the game around the world.
Read more How to watch West Ham v Arsenal Women on TV
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