THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal face WSL runaway leaders Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on Sunday lunchtime in the WSL. Renee Slegers’ side’s solitary WSL defeat this season has come at the hands of Andree Jeglertz’s team back in October. The Gunners will be looking to build on having secured their first- and hopefully not only- silverware of the season last weekend.
They overcame a dogged Corinthians side 3-2 last Sunday in the pouring rain to win the inaugural FIFA Champions Cup. City, meanwhile, are well on course for their first silverware since 2022 and their first league title since 2016. Too many draws have spoiled the broth for Arsenal’s title campaign, but they still have Champions League qualification- and second place- to play for.
Their victory at Stamford Bridge in their most recent WSL game followed by Chelsea’s 5-1 defeat at the Etihad has reeled Sonia Bompastor’s side back into the UWCL qualification race and with second place not needing to play qualifiers next season (thanks largely to Arsenal winning the Champions League last season), it is a significant carrot to play for.
Games between City and Arsenal have a habit of being high scoring, with a 2-2 draw in this fixture last season and a 4-3 Arsenal victory in Manchester last season and a 3-2 defeat this, expect another open game between two WSL heavyweights on Sunday.
TEAM NEWS
Goalkeeper Anekke Borbe is unavailable after being stretchered off in the final stages of the Corinthians game. New loan signing Bora Votikova is called straight into the squad after joining from Slavia Praha on deadline day. Leah Williamson is available following a calf injury. Taylor Hinds is out with a foot injury. Manu Zinsberger, Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid are all out with ACL injuries, Laila Harbert has joined Everton on loan, Maddy Earl has joined Glasgow City on loan and Vivienne Lia has returned from a loan spell at Nottingham Forest.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 13.Votikova 14.van Domselaar 40.Williams
Defenders: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 7.Catley 11.McCabe 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
‘Well they also had a big boost in their win against Chelsea so I think it’s two really good teams going against each other, believing in themselves, so it will be a big contest on Sunday so we look forward to it, so we want and need three points. What it is about for us at this moment in time is this game, and what we can do in this game, that’s most important, and then we’ll see at the end what it means for the table.
‘All we know is that this game we want to get the three points, and the league is really tight this year again. Of course, City have done really well with only one loss so far, so they’ve been amazing in what they’ve been achieving every single week, but yeah, we go for the win. I can’t tell with what mindset City is going to go into this game. I would believe that they’re very happy with the way they’re performing.
‘And they want to keep on going with these performances and doing the things they’re doing. And I think what they do really well is they’re high-press and creating chances from there. So I don’t know what they will do coming to the Emirates, coming to play against us in front of 40,000. I don’t know. We’ll see. But I think what all teams do nowadays is you’re good at any phase of the game. I think the game will be played in different phases.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met in Manchester earlier in the season, the home side came out on top in a topsy turvy 3-2 defeat. Bunny Shaw gave City the lead before Mariona’s equaliser, Caspraij restored City’s lead before a further equaliser from Chloe Kelly but Iman Beney scored a late winner.
THE OPPOSITION
City have won 13 games on the bounce since losing at Chelsea on the opening day. They currently have an 11-point lead at the top of the table- Arsenal could potentially cut that to seven by winning this game and winning their game in hand at home to Leicester City- but City are going to win their first league title in a decade and likely at a canter.
They have been refreshed under Swedish coach Andree Jeglertz, who has retained Gareth Taylor’s blueprint for possession football but added some juice to it. City are now a far more rounded team, who can press, compete physically, defend well and have a big setpiece threat too. They have scored 41 goals this season, the second highest scorers in the league are Manchester United with 31.
As well as a host of open play threats such as Shaw, Miedema, Kerolin, Hemp, Beney and Fujino (the latter is out of this game with concussion) City simply have a lot more firepower than any other team in the league. They are also the most prolific team in the league at scoring from corners, something covered in detail here by The Cutback.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Daphne van Domselaar will come back into goal for the first time since November and of all the games she could come back into, this is the one that will keep her busiest from a pure goalkeeping perspective. Bunny Shaw alone will see to that, she has 14 WSL goals so far this season. The second top scorer in the league is Kirsty Hanson with seven.
On top of that, Brazilian winger Kerolin tops the WSL on goals per 90 with 1.41 (she currently averages a goal contribution every 42 minutes). Miedema leads the division for big chances created. City are also the most prolific scorers from corners in the division. They have any number of avenues to threaten the goal and van Domselaar will likely have to be on top of her game.
Not just in terms of shot stopping but in Knaak, Shaw, Miedema and Rose, they have a lot of aerial threats from corners. Arsenal don’t necessarily match City for aerial threat (which is why I half wonder whether Laia Codina in midfield is something Slegers might consider) so van Domselaar will need to be commanding on setpieces too.
MY PREDICTED LINE UP
Subs: 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 12.L.Maanum 13.Votikova 15.Smith 18.Kelly 21.Pelova 31.Holmberg 32.Cooney-Cross
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The game kicks off at 12noon on Sunday at Emirates Stadium and will be screened live on Sky Sports in the UK. A full rundown of where you can watch across the world is available here.
COMING UP
We will have the line-up an hour before kickoff and Aidan Gibson’s match report on the whistle, we will 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. I will be in Leuven next week with all the coverage from the Round of 16 Champions League first leg tie.
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