THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal travel to Goodison Park on Saturday lunchtime in the WSL aiming to end 2025 on a high from a league perspective. The Toffees are fresh from ending Chelsea’s long unbeaten run last weekend with a shock 1-0 win at Kingsmeadow, while the Gunners are aiming to build on a pair of single goal victories over Liverpool and Twente.
It’s the first of three away games in a week with trips to Leuven in the Champions League and then Crystal Palace in the League Cup on the horizon before the winter break. Arsenal are 4th and ahead of Spurs on goal difference in the table and sit one point behind Manchester United but with Spurs and United playing one another on Sunday, one or both of those teams will drop points this weekend.
It gives Renee Slegers’ side an opportunity to finish the year in the Champions League qualification spots having confirmed qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League with their victory over FC Twente on Tuesday. In both the Twente and Liverpool games, Arsenal left ‘goals on the pitch’ and ought to have won by more than a slender one goal margin.
Being more clinical with Everton will be high on the agenda, though last weekend represented the Toffees’ first clean sheet of the season, it ought to renew their defensive confidence. Put simply, Arsenal’s early season form has put them in a position where there is no margin for error.
TEAM NEWS
Jenna Nighswonger missed the game against Twente on Tuesday night and is likely to miss this one too but Laia Codina, who was also unavailable on Tuesday, has a chance of returning to the squad for this one. Daphne van Domselaar (quad), Chloe Kelly (knee), Katie Reid and Manu Zinsberger (both ACL) are out.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 14.van Domselaar 53.Liddiard
Defenders: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 7.Catley 11.McCabe 24.Hinds 44.Harwood
Midfielders: 8.Mariona 10.Little(c) 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 highly respect Everton and Brian for the team they are. They’re a very unpredictable team. They can do different things, so it’s always, at the start of the game, having a good look at what their plan is and what their structure is and what they try to do. Transitions, they’ve been extremely clinical from their transitions, so we have to manage that really well because we know the strength they have with the quality of players that can set it up and the quality of players that can finish it.
‘They have quality and speed up top, so we’ll have to manage that really well. It’s one of their big weapons. If you look at the way they defended their last game when they got the 1-0 win, they defended for their lives in the box. The goalkeeper saves a lot of shots and moments, so we expect the same.
‘I can imagine they take a lot of belief out of that performance. We expect a hard game against Everton. I think if you look at the Twente game, we might be asked similar questions or similar challenges, but I think the physicality, the tempo, I think they have a lot of threat on transition.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met on Merseyside last season, Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners thanks to an own goal from Maren Mjelde and a brace from Alessia Russo. Kelly Gago scored for Everton.
THE OPPOSITION
Only Marc Skinner at Manchester United has been in-post longer than Brian Sorensen at Everton. Under the Danish coach the Toffees have a very clear identity. They like to bait the press by getting numbers around the ball and combining with short passes at the back and then quickly playing through the thirds once the opponent is committed. They take risks with their possession at the back but that’s because they want to commit teams out of shape.
Nobody touches the ball in their own penalty area and in their own defensive third more than Everton in the WSL. Since the club was taken over in January, they have been able to invest in a much bigger squad- Sorensen was often hamstrung by small squads and having to play a lot of young players.
That said, they still have the youngest average age in their starting line-up this season compared to any other team in the league. They have been hit by an injury crisis at times during this campaign. Now they have greater technical quality in midfield and transitional threat in attack, they have moved from a back five to a back four which has impacted their defensive stability at times this season.
PLAYER TO WATCH
If you go back and watch the highlights from last season’s game, it is striking how often Arsenal’s threat came from the right-hand side. All three of their goals emanate from there and, come to think of it, I wrote the analysis piece on this phenomenon last season.
Slegers rested Emily Fox on Tuesday night with Taylor Hinds starting at right-back against Twente. I suspect that is, partially, because Arsenal will consider Fox a critical part of their attacking effort on Saturday. The American assisted Blackstenius’ late winner against Liverpool with a delightfully lofted through-ball too.
The partnership of Mead and Fox down the right side is one to watch this weekend. I think Fox’s consistency sometimes causes the quality she provides to become like background noise but she really is one of the most consistently excellent right-backs in the world. Don’t be surprised if she tees up an Arsenal goal this weekend.
MY PREDICTED LINE UPS
Subs: 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 15.Smith 21.Pelova 24.Hinds 25.Blackstenius 32.Cooney-Cross 44.Harwood 53.Liddiard
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match takes place at Goodison Park on Saturday at 12noon and will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. Global listings are available here.
COMING UP
We will have the team news post shortly after 11am, as well as Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report. We will also have every word of Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference online around an hour after the final whistle. Jamie and I will have a podcast for you on Monday. There will be a tactical analysis piece online on Monday afternoon too.
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