Arsenal will play Linkoping of Sweden in their UWCL first round tie to qualify for the Champions League group stage. If they defeat the Swedish side, they will play the winners of Paris FC (not to be confused with PSG) v FC Kryvbas of Ukraine in the final of the League Path qualifiers.
The Linkoping tie will be played on September 6 with the following tie to be played September 9. All of the matches will be hosted by one of the teams in the group, Arsenal are unlikely to be able to host because Boreham Wood’s fixtures are not yet known for next season so they would not currently be able to commit to using Meadow Park.
The political situation in Ukraine makes Kryvbas an unlikely host so the games will almost certainly be held at either Linkoping or in Paris. Even if Arsenal lose to Linkoping, they will play a third place playoff game against the losers of Paris FC v Kryvbas.
Arsenal are in qualifying round one because they finished 3rd in the WSL last season, if they come through these matches then they will progress to the final playoff round in October which involves a two-legged tie. Only four clubs qualify for the group stages outright.
Update: the matches will be played in Linkoping.
Yes! I live in Linköping.
Me to! My son will be thrilled as well!
What are our chances against them?
They’re not as good as when Stina and Frida played here. It should be a blow out. Maybe 5-0 or something along those lines.
What is the purpose of playing/winning the third place playoff?
Two reasons. 1. It counts towards coefficient points, which is valuable at this layer and 2. This stage of the competition features clubs without much budget and often who have other jobs, a second game makes the cost worthwhile and gives players certainty on how long they’ll be away for.
Oh I see. I thought there was a possibility to still qualify for the next elimination round of the WCL by winning the third place playoffs.
Good to know. I hope we have some fit players after the World Cup..
And I lived in Kryvyi Rih where Kryvbas is from. They have played domestic games there, but at least all men’s UEFA games have been played outside the country.
I dare not hope that the venue for the mini-tournament will be Linköping, as this would be the first time I would be able to watch them live. But fingers crossed! 🤞
Provided our team returns from the World Cup unscathed you have got to fancy our chances of progressing with this draw given we only narrowly missed out on the final last season with half the girls missing!
With AFC undoubted commitment to AWFC. Is it possible that this mini tournament could be hosted at Emirates?
Hopefully our home tie can be played at The Emirates, in order to garner more support.
The “mini tournament” 1st qualifying round games will all be at the same venue. It seems this will be in Linkoping.