A place in the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals is at stake with Wednesday’s play-off second leg against OH Leuven.
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We go into the match at Meadow Park, which kicks off at 8pm, 4-0 up on aggregate following last week’s rout in Belgium.
Victory in the tie would see us setup quarter-final matches against Chelsea, which are currently scheduled for either March 24 or 25 (first leg at Emirates Stadium) and April 1 (second leg at Stamford Bridge).
BACK TO WINNING WAYS
Leuven responded to last week’s 4-0 defeat at home to us with a 2-1 win at home to Westerlo in the Belgian Super League on Saturday.
That means they stayed five points clear of Anderlecht at the top of the division, having won 15 of their 17 league fixtures.
They’ve struggled to replicate such form in Europe though, winning just one Champions League league phase match to finish 12th in the standings.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Slegers: “On one hand, it’s easy because we’ve played this opponent twice. On the other hand, it’s a different scenario now and they might do things differently, and we’ll have to anticipate that.
"Of course, we took a result that we’re happy with away, it’s 4-0 now. So we’ll have to manage the game really well and be prepared that they will come out and do something different." - read every word of Renée’s pre-OH Leuven press conference.
Read more Every word of Renée’s pre-OH Leuven presser
Arno van den Abbeel: "[The players] have to be very proud of the road we took. Let's enjoy our game. I am very happy we did something unique this year. We knew it would be a difficult assignment against Arsenal and, in the end, they proved to be on another level. Still, I am proud of my group.
"As a coach, you cannot feel otherwise when you reflect on what we have achieved in this Women’s Champions League campaign. It will not be easy to lift ourselves for the match in London, but we will give everything one last time and aim to leave the competition with our heads held high."
TEAM NEWS
Taylor Hinds will be in the squad and is available for some minutes after recovering from injury, but Kyra Cooney-Cross is unavailable due to illness. Anneke Borbe will be available having completed full sessions in training.
FACTS AND STATS
We are unbeaten in each of our last 17 Champions League home games against teams from outside of Europe’s big five leagues (W15 D2), since a 1-0 loss to Swedish side Djurgardens IF in the second leg of our 2004/05 semi-final tie.
Following our 4-0 win in the first leg, we will be aiming to win both legs of a Champions League knockout stage tie for the first time since the 2019/20 round of 16 against Slavia Prague (5-2 away, 8-0 home).
OH Leuven remain winless away from home in the Champions League, failing to score in two of those matches (P3 D2 L1) – they did however draw 0-0 in their most recent one, with PSG on MD5 in the league phase.
We are aiming to reach the quarter-final stage of the Champions League for the 17th time, with no side doing so more often (Lyon will also play in their 17th this season). Before 2025/26, all 153 of the teams to win the first leg of a knockout stage tie by 3+ goals in this competition have gone on win the tie.
No Arsenal player has created more chances from open play in the 2025/26 Champions League than Caitlin Foord (10), who assisted twice in the first leg of this tie. It was the sixth time the Australian has had 2+ goal involvements in a game since we returned to the competition in 2021/22, and the joint-most times of any non-European player in that same period.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Greek referee Eleni Antoniou has been appointed to take charge of Wednesday’s match, alongside assistants Vasilia Tsiklitari and Anita Vad.
Antoniou was involved in one of our games last season - a 3-1 win away to Valerenga in the group phase.
Referee: Eleni AntoniouAssistant Referees: Vasilia Tsiklitari and Anita VadFourth Official: Reka MolnarVAR: Ferenc KarakoAssistant VAR: Gergo Bogar
HOW TO WATCH
This game will be broadcast live on Disney + in the UK. International viewers can find out where to watch the game here.
Read more How to watch Arsenal Women v OH Leuven on TV
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