THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal play Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on Sunday with a crowd of around 30,000 expected. The Gunners have confirmed that interim boss Renee Slegers will stay in charge for this upcoming block of games until Christmas, which takes in Villa at home, a trip to Valarenga in midweek, an away game against Liverpool in the WSL before finishing at home to Bayern Munich.
The feeling in the club is that Slegers is a steady enough hand on the tiller for them to take their time finding the right candidate. Slegers herself won’t be drawn on whether she would like to be considered for the job full-time but if Arsenal win all of these four games, it is difficult to envisage a scenario where she is not offered the role permanently.
However, it is one game at a time territory and this fixture last season produced high drama, with Villa leading when 9 minutes of stoppage time were signalled. Goals from Katie McCabe and Alessia Russo in injury time gave the Gunners the victory on the day that Beth Mead returned from her ACL injury, providing the match winning assist from the bench.
While that day produced a lot of adrenaline, Arsenal will seek a less eventful match here. Villa are 7th in the table but only one of their defeats so far this season has been by more than one goal. Arsenal have enjoyed comfortable wins over Brighton and Spurs recently and will want to continue that trend against Villa.
TEAM NEWS
Lia Walti is unavailable after undergoing surgery in Switzerland for an abscess, the timeline of her recovery is not yet known. But Steph Catley has been in full training after pulling out of Australia’s recent friendly with Brazil with muscle tightness and is expected to be fit.
Amanda Ilestedt is back in training after giving birth to her daughter in August but won’t be available this side of the New Year. Victoria Pelova is taking tentative steps back into training after suffering an ACL injury in June but also won’t feature this side of the Christmas break.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 1.Zinsberger 14.van Domselaar 40.Williams
Defenders: 2.Fox 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 6.Williamson 7.Catley 11.McCabe 26.Wienroither 62.Reid
Midfielders: 10.Little(c) 12.L.Maanum 16.Kafaji 22.Kuhl 32.Cooney-Cross
Forwards: 8.Mariona 9.Mead 17.Hurtig 19.Foord 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius 53.Lia 56.Godfrey
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
I think Aston Villa is a great team, if you look at their results it has been one goal differences other than the Brighton game. They always make it hard for their opponents. They have strong game changers they can bring into the game so they are also strong at the end of games. It is definitely an opponent we don’t want to underestimate, all opposition is strong in the WSL. It has been developing and Aston Villa in particular, it is a strong opponent we play on Sunday.
They have to enjoy what they are doing, that is how you get the best out of yourself in life whatever you do. That is what we try to create, we think about the way we coach, the drills we design, what is our energy? What do we reinforce what do we not reinforce? We try to use all these different tools to create an environment and we try to facilitate but, in the end, it is the players feeling comfortable and feeling they want to create a certain environment.
But laughter is not going to win us games, it is all very serious. Behaviours are infectious, I believe in that strongly. But if you enjoy yourself on the pitch you work even harder. I am direct and honest, this is like an interview! Togetherness is important, to have people engaged and involved and I am also competitive and trying to win things.
LAST TIME OUT
At Emirates Stadium last season, Villa took a first lead through Maz Pacheco before stoppage time goals from Katie McCabe and Alessia Russo turned the game at the death.
THE OPPOSITION
Carla Ward resigned during the summer to spend more time with her family and she was succeeded by Dutch coach Robert de Pauw who impressed during his two-year stint in charge of Bayer Leverkusen. Villa usually play with Chastity Grant and Kirsty Hanson as inverted wingers and encourage their full-backs- Noelle Maritz, Danielle Turner, Paula Tomas or Maz Pacheco- to push up and create width.
Villa cross the ball more than any team in the WSL and with penalty area threats like Rachel Daly, who has moved to a deeper number 10 role recently and Gabi Nunes, it is easy to see why. Arsenal will want to stop those crosses coming into the box and be alert in the area when they are unable to.
Villa has a sizeable former Arsenal contingent with goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and full-back Noelle Maritz moving there last season where they joined former Gunners Anna Patten and Jordan Nobbs. Villa finished 7th in the WSL last season and that is exactly where they sit in the table going into this game.
PLAYER TO WATCH
With Lia Walti out for the next few games, that gives Kyra Cooney-Cross another chance to stake her claim to a central midfield spot. The Little Walti pivot has been the most consistent feature of the Arsenal team over the last six years, though it has taken on different iterations during that time.
However, now aged 34, there are signs that the Gunners are preparing for a future with less dependence on captain Kim Little. She averaged 85 minutes per start in 2022-23, which dropped to 76 minutes per start last season and currently stands at 67 minutes per start. Were Victoria Pelova fit that might be lower.
For Cooney-Cross, Little is a more suitable midfield partner than Walti since the Australian and the Swiss both prefer to play on the left of the pivot. Cooney-Cross’ a ability to spread play and her tigerishness in the tackle are her stand out qualities, she will relish the chance to play a few games and continue to show the club she is the future of the midfield with Pelova, especially as interest in Keira Walsh is likely to remain.
PREDICTED LINE UPS
Subs: 1.Zinsberger 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 9.Mead 16.Kafaji 17.Hurtig 22.Kuhl 25.Blackstenius 26.Wienroither
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match takes place at Emirates Stadium on Sunday at 2pm and will be streamed live and free on the Barclays WSL YouTube channel.
COMING UP
We will have all the usual post-match content, Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report, every word from Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference, the usual analysis piece, as well as a matchday vlog from the stadium. Jamie and I will be recording the post-match podcast on Sunday evening so it will be ready for you on Monday morning.
That will be episode 99 of the Arsenal Women Arsecast so we will have another episode in midweek celebrating our 100th show and we have something a little special planned…
A bit surprised to see your comment about Little being a more suitable partner for KCC, I always felt Walti offered a better platform to make up for KCC’s sometimes not as stellar defensive contributions and positioning.
It will be interesting to see who copes best with the conditions, which will be cold, wet and windy. If the turf is sodden, intricate passing along the ground will be difficult – a day where Leah’s long balls could be vital.
The high wind will cause havoc with anything in the air mind!
RS is very direct in her words with the team, this is a good sign, I hope KCC fights for this spot because I like the way she plays (essential physicality in the midfield, skill, agility and strong marking), interestingly enough, there are two Dutch coaches in action, I’ve been biting my nails since now.