THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal face FC Twente Vrouwen in matchday five of the Champions League group phase on Tuesday night at Meadow Park. The Gunners have won two and lost two so far in the group phase, with defeats at home to Lyon and away at Bayern Munich and victories at home to Real Madrid and away at Benfica.
The last two fixtures really need to return six points to all but guarantee Arsenal’s path to the knockout stages, even if a position in the top four and a bye into the quarter-finals is probably beyond them. Arsenal were patchy in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday and it feels like the Gunners are still waiting for a consistently excellent performance across a whole game.
The result against Liverpool was deserved but the initial reaction to the Reds’ equaliser was alarming, by Renee Slegers’ own admission. Twente top the Eredivisie at the moment and Slegers says she is expecting a physical game from the visitors. This match and a trip to Louven on matchday six really should return maximum points for Slegers’ team and questions will be asked if they are not.
Arsenal also return to Meadow Park for the final time in the UWCL group phase. While the attendances would doubtless have been higher at the Emirates, none of the games at Meadow Park have sold out, even against big names like Lyon and Madrid. Low turnouts for UWCL games at the Emirates drove the decision and it is difficult to argue with given how low turnouts continue to be (for totally understandable reasons) for midweek European games.
TEAM NEWS
Leah Williamson is available ‘for a few minutes’ according to Renee Slegers as she continues her comeback from a knee injury. Slegers also admitted they would need to be ‘clever’ with Kim Little after admitting her recent calf injury was ‘a loading issue.’ Daphne van Domselaar (quad), Chloe Kelly (knee), Manu Zinsberger and Katie Reid (both ACL) are out.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 28.Borbe 53.Liddiard
Defenders: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 7.Catley 11.McCabe 22.Nighswonger 44.Harwood
Midfielders: 8.Mariona 10.Little 12.L.Maanum 21.Pelova 32.Cooney-Cross 43.Peacock
Forwards: 9.Mead 15.Smith 19.Foord 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
I was a player at Willem II back then and Twente was one of the teams that pioneered and was one of the first teams to start the league. They’ve done so much for the league in the Netherlands and we are really impressed with them and still doing that and still pushing- they’ve meant a lot in the history of women’s football in the Netherlands and they keep on going.
I’ve been watching their relevant games in preparation for our game tomorrow and they’re a good team. They’re a young team, high Dutch representation and I think with these teams at the top of the table in the Netherlands- they know how to play the game differently as well against European opposition, so it looks like they have a plan for different scenarios. There’s always a lot of passion and aggression and high belief in what they’re doing.
They create a certain way in the Netherlands and then they have really strong game plans for high level European opposition and I think you saw that in their game against Chelsea- it’s all very close games. They will come out with belief in themselves. They also need the points. I think they have quite an aggressive, passionate mindset in the Netherlands and that’s what they’re going to come out with.
THE OPPOSITION
Twente are currently second in the Eredivisie Vrouwen level on points with leaders Ajax. Twente have won 10 league titles since their formation in 2006, making them the most successful Dutch women’s club. Their entire squad is Dutch save for Belgian goalkeeper Diede Lemey and Icelandic midfielder Amanda Andradóttir.
Twente have a number of up and coming young players who are forcing their way into the Dutch national team, like 18-year-old left-winger Sophie Proost and midfielder Lynn Groenewegen and they held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw earlier in the group phase. They also have former Gunner Jill Roord in their team who surprisingly joined from Manchester City during the summer.
The 28-year-old began her career with Twente and has made the move back as a 28-year-old citing a feeling that she had lost some of her love for the game and wanted to return home to rekindle that feeling. It was a brave and refreshing decision from such a high-level player to prioritise her happiness over her salary in such a way.
LAST TIME OUT
The two teams have never previously met.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Anneke Borbe will make her second start for the club in goal against Twente. Early in the Liverpool game, Borbe made a miscalculation coming off her goalline and out of her area, which could have led to a Liverpool goal or even a foul and a red card. There was rustiness evident when Liverpool did equalise as Arsenal played out from the back poorly, with Borbe opting for a long pass.
I think these errors are quite natural for a goalkeeper who a) hadn’t played since August and b) hasn’t played with this team before. Borbe played it safe thereafter and, in truth, Liverpool barely got into Arsenal’s half in the second half anyway. Those partnerships matter when it comes to playing out from the back and when to be a sweeper keeper and they take a little time to form.
Personally, I think Borbe really should get a pass for what were two errors but neither of which was catastrophic or without caveat. That’s one game in the bank for Borbe now and this game will help to build on those connections further which ought to aid her decision making. I would only be inclined to judge Borbe at the end of this block of games but, clearly, Arsenal aren’t in a position to absorb too many errors.
MY PREDICTED LINE UP
Subs: 5.L.Codina, 6.Williamson, 9.Mead, 10.Little, 21.Pelova, 22.Nighswonger, 23.Russo, 24.Hinds, 44.Harwood, 53.Liddiard
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match takes place at Meadow Park at 8pm on Tuesday evening, it will be shown live on Disney+ in the UK. Full global listings are available here.
COMING UP
We will have team news as soon as it’s posted, as well as every word of Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference online around an hour after the final whistle. We will likely have a tactical analysis piece online at some point on Wednesday too. We didn’t write one up for the Liverpool game due to the short turnaround.
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