THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal travel to Crawley on Sunday afternoon to play Brighton in the WSL. The Gunners are on a good run of form after WSL victories away at Chelsea and at home to Manchester City, as well as winning the FIFA Champions Cup. Renee Slegers’ side virtually assured their passage into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-0 first leg away win over Leuven in the round of 16 on Wednesday night.
On Wednesday, Arsenal were able to rest Steph Catley, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Kim Little and Alessia Russo into the bargain. The Gunners have a little scar tissue from this fixture having been beaten 4-2 in Crawley last season, albeit that was a fixture with little riding on it in the wake of the Champions League semi-final second leg.
That game exposed a weakness to transitions that emerged during last season that has not been repeated this season. On Tuesday, in Leuven, Arseblog News asked Renee Slegers about her approach to tactical problem solving (LINK) and she pointed to a reflective culture of ownership within the group.
With a commanding lead over Leuven ahead of the round of 16 second leg at Meadow Park on Wednesday they ought to be able to look after some players legs and place full concentration on the task ahead of them at Brighton, who have lost their last two WSL games having taken the lead.
TEAM NEWS
Beth Mead (shin) and Stina Blackstenius (calf) are out for until the international break, while Anneke Borbe will have a fitness test for a knock she took in the FIFA Champions Cup Final. Taylor Hinds (foot) is out, while Manu Zinsberger, Katie Reid and Michelle Agyemang are all out with ACL injuries.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 13.Votikova 14.van Domselaar 28.Borbe 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: 15.Smith 18.Kelly 19.Foord 23.Russo
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘What we expect from Brighton, yes they’ve had a challenging run, but I think they’re a good team and last year away at Crawley wasn’t a good performance from us and we lost that game. So we know what they can do and we know that we have to, again, what we’ve done really well since January, that we have to be really humble for the task, because it won’t be easy with the circumstances, the conditions, the way Brighton play, certain threats that they have.
‘So we really are going to have to work hard to nullify that and believe in the strengths that we have, the strengths that we possess to overcome those challenges. So again it’s for us to create our own guarantees and our own knowns and that’s what we can do and stacking good, humble actions on the pitch. We’ll have to do those things with conditions and the type of game it will be. It’s going to be so important for us.
‘But the unknown will be there because I think Brighton is a really good team with lots of rotations and ideas in possession. They have an aggressive press. But last time around when we played them away they did something completely different. So we’ll see what their game plan is for Sunday. We’ll see what their game plan is. Like I said we have to focus on ourselves and the things that we need to do regardless of the scenario, and that will guarantee things for us. So that’s within our control.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met at Emirates Stadium in October, Arsenal were 1-0 winners thanks to an own goal from Marisa Olislagers.
THE OPPOSITION
Brighton have been firmly established as a member of the WSL middle class for some years now, after winning promotion to the top flight in 2018, they have somewhat mirrored the progress of the men’s team, initially focusing on survival with then coach Hope Powell focusing on a defence first style of play to assure WSL safety.
After a couple of seasons, they shifted focus with a more progressive brand of football that looked to push them up the league table. They had a few mis hires in the Head Coach role with Jens Scheuer and now Arsenal Head of Analysis Mel Phillips (now Mel Reed-Clarke) not lasting particularly long. But Australian coach Dario Vidosic is in his second season at the Seagulls having secured a fifth placed finish last season.
Vidosic has been on compassionate leave recently following the sad death of his father Rado, who was also Brighton Women’s head of women’s and girls coaching. Brighton incredibly lost 3-2 at West Ham last week having held a two goal lead until the 83rd minute. They also lost to London City Lionesses from a 1-0 vantage point.
Vidosic’s high pressing, attacking style is widely admired and is a leading reason that Arsenal have sent Michelle Agyemang and Rosa Kafaji on loan there. They also possess experienced WSL talent such as Fran Kirby and Jelena Cankovic, boasting a good blend of youth and experience.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Caitlin Foord’s output has improved in recent games, having scored the winner against Corinthians in the FIFA Champions Cup Final, she notched two assists in midweek against Leuven. With Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius injured (the latter essentially meaning Olivia Smith is being utilised at centre-forward), Arsenal will need Caitlin in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday night we saw her and Chloe Kelly interchanging flanks quite often, both of Foord’s assists came from the right hand side, whereas Kelly’s assist came from the left. Brighton like to switch play quickly from their centre-halves, they don’t spend a lot of time playing out from the back and like to go back to front quickly.
That means the wingers need to be switched on in support of their full-backs. Slegers said Foord and Kelly swapped flanks a lot since Leuven favoured quick restarts so they focused on having the correct shape after setpieces. I think much the same will be true of Brighton on Sunday.
PREDICTED LINE UP
Subs: 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 13.Votikova 18.Kelly 21.Pelova 28.Borbe 32.Cooney-Cross 44.Harwood
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match kicks off at 2.30pm on Sunday and takes place at Crawley Town’s Broadfield Road Stadium. The game is being screened live on the BBC in England. Full global TV listings are available here.
COMING UP
We will have the line-up for you an hour before kickoff, Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report, every word from Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference online around an hour after full-time and Jamie and I will have a podcast for you on Monday or Tuesday (we haven’t quite sorted out recording time yet!)
Don’t forget to sign up to our free Weekly Arsenal Women Newsletter.