**Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers expects West Ham United to pose a lot of threat on the transition during Saturday’s match at Emirates Stadium.**
The Gunners host West Ham United at Emirates Stadium this Saturday in the Women’s Super League (WSL). Arsenal won the reverse fixture by five goals to one at the start of the season. But for West Ham United, that was in a different era. Then-head coach Rehanne Skinner has since left the club and has been replaced by former Italian international Rita Guarino.
Managing Shekiera Martinez
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Still, Slegers expects the Hammers to threaten Arsenal on the break, as they have done in recent matches between the two sides. Shekiera Martinez and Viviane Asseyi thrived against Arsenal’s back line with their speed in the same fixture last season. That fixture ended in a thrilling four to three. Asked if managing West Ham’s transitions was a big part of the game plan, Slegers confirmed.
“Yeah, that’s a big part of the game plan because we know what they can bring with really hard work with hold up play, with runs and dribbles. We’ll have to be really disciplined when we defend. So that’s one part of the game. The other parts are the transitions. So both attacking and defending transitions. And we also expect West Ham to come out disciplined. They got rewards for their hard work against United. They kept spaces really small. They defended as a unit altogether. If they do that against us as well at the Emirates tomorrow, then we’ll have to be prepared to break them down and they will not make it easy for us. So there’s different sides to the game tomorrow, but definitely managing Martinez and Asseyi up top”.
Leah Williamson and Frida Maanum are unavailable
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Slegers confirmed that Leah Williamson (hamstring injury) and Frida Maanum (illness) were highly unlikely to feature against West Ham. Looking forward to the upcoming UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) quarter final against Chelsea on Tuesday, Slegers said it would come too soon for Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Steph Catley. They feature in Saturday morning’s Asia Cup final against Japan.
“They’ll be travelling and getting back in the country on Monday is the plan. And that’s the match day minus one. So that will be a very short turnaround for them to be available for the game against Chelsea”, said Slegers.
The goalkeeping union
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Daphne van Domselaar has been the clear first choice goalkeeper ever since she moved to Arsenal in the summer of 2024. However, she was nursing an injury which kept her out for most of the final months of the year and a bit of the start of the new year. In her absence, Anneke Borbe has stepped up and performed in goal for the Gunners. Since her return to the Arsenal match day squad, she has only featured in goal when Anneke Borbe was unavailable. She has not played for her national team either, although called up and available. _The Halfway Line_ asked Slegers about the goalkeeping union.
“Daph had to go through a hard time with a hard injury, tendon issues, which can take a long time, and that’s, of course, been disappointing for Daph. If you look at last season, she was consistently available and did really well for us. Daph is a top goalkeeper, so we had to be without her. Now she’s back and she’s building back, but we have other goalkeepers as well. And if you look at Anneke Borbe, how well she’s done since her debut against Liverpool at the Emirates. That was her first competitive game for us and the way she’s been growing and developing in our environment, it’s been fantastic”, Slegers said.
Slegers continued: “So we are privileged to have so many good goalkeepers here with us. Unfortunately, Manuela is out with an injury, but we have Daph, Anneke, Naomi and Bara \[Barbora Votikova\] with us, which is great. It’s a great setup and they’re competing and making each other better and stronger every day. So we’re in a position where we look at who’s most ready to play and who’s most ready to perform. But we also know like with outfield players, we need everyone across the season, so. But I’m happy that Daph is back on the pitch and that she’s. She’s training, just needs to build her rhythm and. But she’s been doing really well.”
**Arsenal versus West Ham United kicks off this Saturday at 12pm BST. SkySports are showing the match.**