Bristol City Women v Arsenal Preview

THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal travel to Bristol City Women on Sunday evening at Ashton Gate with over 10,000 fans expected. Arsenal bagged a breathless win over Aston Villa last Sunday, going into stoppage time 1-0 down before goals from Katie McCabe and Alessia Russo gave Jonas Eidevall’s side a last gasp, and deserved, victory, their first of the season.

It’s true that Arsenal have found difficulties against teams with deep defensive blocks and a plan to frustrate so far this season, a theme Arseblog News warmed to in the pre-match press conference as the Gunners hit 50 crosses into the Villa area according to Opta. Bristol City are likely to adopt a similar approach on Sunday and Arsenal are going to have to find a way around it.

New: ‘Our chance creation from the wide zones has not been good enough’ Eidevall wants Arsenal attacking improvement https://t.co/Ii7bmUZzsW pic.twitter.com/tzGAHbNv6I

— arseblognews (@arseblognews) October 20, 2023

Arsenal could well be boosted by the return of Vivianne Miedema to the squad, who Jonas Eidevall says has “a chance” to be in the matchday squad for the first time since rupturing her ACL in December last year. Miedema has been called to the Netherlands squad for upcoming UEFA Nations League games against Scotland though she is unlikely to play either game, rather it is best for her recovery to be in full training with her National Team.

After the dopamine hit of Beth Mead’s return to action against Aston Villa last weekend, having Miedema in so much as the warm up would represent a big lift for what is likely to be a significant travelling contingent. But first and foremost, Arsenal have to take the three points at Bristol as we move towards another international break.

TEAM NEWS

Vivianne Miedema has “a chance” to be in the squad according to Jonas Eidevall, after her rehabilitation from an ACL injury. Leah Williamson, Laura Wienroither and Teyah Goldie remain in ‘ACL club’ for a while longer. Lina Hurtig was not in the squad for the Aston Villa match last week with a small knock and it’s not clear whether she will be in the squad this week.

Available squad
GOALKEEPERS: 1.Zinsberger, 14.D’Angelo, 40.Williams
DEFENDERS: 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.Beattie, 7.Catley, 16.Maritz, 27.Codina, 28.Ilestedt
MIDFIELDERS: 10.Little, 12.Maanum, 13.Walti, 15.McCabe, 21.Pelova, 22.Kuhl, 32.Cooney-Cross, 53.Lia
FORWARDS:, 9.Mead, 11,Miedema, 19.Foord, 20.Gio, 23.Russo, 24.Lacasse, 25.Blackstenius
Unavailable: 6.Williamson, 26.Wienroither, 29.Goldie
Unknown: 17.Hurtig

A WORD FROM THE BOSS
“I can see that working in different combinations and that’s very exciting. We could see Alessia starting the game against Aston Villa as a 9, but we switched her to a 10 when Stina was coming in as a 9 and we worked on that partnership.

“What does that tells us? Miedema can play both as a 9 and as a 10. I think Alessia can do the same, she can also work as a 9 and a 10, so when we see them play together, when they do, what will bring their best qualities out of each other? We will have to see.

“That’s the exciting thing in football, I have an idea in my head. But that doesn’t count for much until it transpires out to the pitch. And I’m very excited to see them working together on the pitch, but we haven’t had much time to do that so far.”

LAST TIME OUT
The sides last met in the Southwest in April 2021 and Arsenal were 4-0 winners in the Southwest thanks to a brace from Vivianne Miedema and goals from Beth Mead and Danielle van de Donk.

THE OPPOSITION
Bristol City were promoted to the WSL again at the second time of asking following their relegation in 2020-21. They are pointless so far this season with defeats against Manchester City, Tottenham and Leicester. Against City last time out, they conceded five first half goals, all of which were headers from crosses, which might be a weak point for Arsenal to exploit on Sunday.

It looks as though this could be a season of struggle for Bristol in the top flight but they deserve enormous credit for being the only club in the top flight, alongside Leicester, whose men’s side played Champions League football in 2017 and Europa League football in 2021, are the only ones not backed by a Premier League men’s club.

Make the most of Sunday evening at Ashton Gate! 🏟

Here are the key timings – click for details: 👇

— Bristol City WFC (@bristolcitywfc) October 20, 2023

Their manager, Welsh woman Lauren Smith, is only 34 and still considered one of the brightest young coaches in women’s football. She previously worked at academy level at Bristol before a stint as Jayne Ludlow’s assistant for Wales and Rehanne Skinner’s assistant at Tottenham until she rejoined Bristol in 2021. The Vixens have Arsenal goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese on loan but she will not be able to play against her parent club on Sunday.

PLAYER TO WATCH

With only one game a week during this block of the season, I am not anticipating wholesale changes for this game but Victoria Pelova has caught the eye so far in this campaign- as she did at the back end of the previous campaign- and she will be vying for a start after a good performance against Manchester United and an excellent cameo from the bench against Aston Villa last week.

Pelova can operate in a number of roles though new signing Kyra Cooney-Cross will also be looking a getting some minutes in central midfield. Pelova’s ability to operate as an 8, a 10 or on the right wing gives Eidevall a number of ways to integrate the Dutchwoman, even if competition is fierce in all of those spots. Pelova’s ability in tight spaces and her tenacity in winning the ball back make her an ideal player for a Jonas Eidevall midfield.

PREDICTED LINE-UP

Subs: 1.Zinsberger, 5.Beattie, 7.Catley, 9.Mead, 13.Walti, 19.Foord, 22.Kuhl, 23.Russo, 28.Ilestedt.

HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match takes place at Ashton Gate and kicks off at 6.45pm on Sunday evening. The match will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK.

COMING UP
We will have full quotes from Jonas Eidevall’s post-match press conference on the site on Sunday evening. During the international break, we will have another Arsenal Women Arsecast, a feature article we are working on and don’t forget to sign up to our weekly Arsenal Women newsletter here.