THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal face Corinthians in the FIFA Champions Cup Final at Arsenal Stadium on Sunday evening. Now, since there will be a Club World Cup in 2028 (which Arsenal will take part in), the winners cannot officially call themselves world champions for branding reasons. But, let’s face it, they will.
As champions of Europe, the Gunners will face the champions of South America in Sunday’s final. Arsenal beat CAF Champions ASFAR of Morocco 6-0 on Wednesday evening, while Corinthians defeated CONCACAF Champions Gotham FC 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon at Brentford.
It is difficult to do something unprecedented in Arsenal Women’s history but the Gunners have the opportunity to do that on Sunday. But Corinthians showed on Wednesday that they should not be underestimated as a global powerhouse themselves. They will be a formidable opponent backed by a legion of loud supporters.
Arsenal will have the unusual prospect of home advantage for a final but it also offers the first opportunity for Renee Slegers’ side to pick up silverware this season. This is the first ever edition of this intercontinental competition so it also offers a rare opportunity for these players to do something that has never been done in the history of Arsenal Women.
TEAM NEWS
Renee Slegers says Arsenal are ‘working towards’ Leah Williamson returning to the squad for this game, otherwise the squad will be the same as it was for Wednesday according to the Arsenal coach. That means Zinsberger (ACL), van Domselaar (quad), Katie Reid (ACL) and Michelle Agyemang (ACL) are out. Laila Harbert has joined Everton on loan.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 28.Borbe, 40.Williams, 53.Liddiard
Defenders: 2.Fox, 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.L.Codina, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe, 24.Hinds, 31.Holmberg, 44.Harwood
Midfielders: 8.Mariona, 10.Little(c), 12.L.Maanum, 21.Pelova, 32.Cooney-Cross
Forwards: 9.Mead, 15.Smith, 18.Kelly, 19.Foord, 23.Russo, 25.Blackstenius
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘We are very proud to be in this tournament. We are very proud to be the champions of Europe, and we look forward to playing against the champions of South America. We are very respectful of the opposition. We are very humble also because of the unknown and because they are champions.
‘So, we go into this game believing in ourselves, knowing how good we are. We are happy to play at our home stadium, but also with a lot of humility and respect for the opposition. And it’s a final, so they are going to give absolutely everything together with the fans. So, we are prepared for that.
‘They have a lot of physicality, their hold up play, combination play, their dribblers and speed. So, there’s a lot of things that they can do with their players to go forward as well. But I think their big weapon is that they are all together and disciplined in their defence. What we want to bring is our game, the Arsenal way, and measure the Arsenal way against Corinthians from South America. So, we look forward to it.’
THE OPPOSITION
Corinthians are the dominant team of South America, they have won six Copa Libertadores including each of the last three. They have also won each of the last six Campeanato Brasileiros. They have a little bit of everything, technique, speed, dribblers, defensive discipline and strong transitional threat. They are also strong on setpieces.
I asked Corinthians coach Lucas Piccinato about his team’s mentality and how used they are to playing and winning big games and big finals, ‘Our team’s journey over many years has brought us to this point and all of that has helped us to ‘develop a shell’ for this moment.
‘It is obvious that the group has changed a lot since we first arrived but we still have so many players who are hungry for titles. For us, it’s very important to create a culture of always winning, so we can win very big games like this one on Sunday. We must be ready to execute the game plan very well and leave here with an excellent result.’
I wrote a little more about Corinthians in this week’s newsletter.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Corinthians play with a lot of positional discipline out of possession- in domestic games they are not out of possession very often but when they are everyone knows their jobs. It’s a testament to a team that spends most of its time attacking in a domestic context that having a strong rest defence shape holds few difficulties for them.
Corinthians restricted Gotham to few clear cut chances but when Gotham did get a sight of goal, it was usually via high turnovers as Corinthians played out from the back. The ability of Arsenal to press Corinthians when they play out from goalkicks will be crucial and I think Frida Maanum will be a really key player in this respect (assuming she starts!)
Corinthians went into a low block in a lot of phases of the game against Gotham and when that happens, ability to shoot from range is also a key component for the team who will likely have more of the ball. Duda Sampaio and Ana Vitoria are likely to play in the double pivot for Corinthians, it’s quite a creative, ball playing double pivot (not dissimilar to Arsenal’s) and how Maanum imposes herself in this space will be interesting.
MY PREDICTED LINE UP
Subs: 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 18.Kelly 19.Foord 21.Pelova 24.Hinds 25.Blackstenius 31.Holmberg 32.Cooney-Cross 40.Williams 44.Harwood 53.Liddiard
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The game kicks off at 6pm at Arsenal Stadium on Sunday. The game will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. Details on how to watch the game across the world are available here.
COMING UP
We will have team news posted an hour before kickoff, Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report, every word of Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference online about an hour after full-time. Jamie and I will have a podcast on the game for you on Monday too.
Don’t forget to sign up to our free weekly Arsenal Women Newsletter here.