THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal take on Bayern Munich in the final game of their UWCL group at Meadow Park on Wednesday night knowing that a victory will secure them top spot in the group. A draw and Bayern will take first place with Arsenal in second. Following the Gunners’ chastening 5-2 defeat in Munich on match day one in October, they would absolutely have signed up for this scenario on that evening.
That proved to be the penultimate game of Jonas Eidevall’s reign as Arsenal’s confidence had sagged and at that point, it looked impossible for Arsenal to be in this position come match day six. Part of that is because Munich slipped up in Oslo in November, being held to a 1-1 draw thanks to a stoppage time Valarenga equaliser.
Otherwise, the Gunners would have needed to overturn the three goal deficit they suffered in Germany to have a chance of topping the group. This also represents the final game of 2024 before the team goes on their winter break until the New Year. If Arsenal win this game, it will represent a very close to perfect return under Renee Slegers’ interim charge.
If she manages that, it is difficult to envisage her not being offered the top job. But first and foremost, Arsenal will want a big win after a run of relatively winnable games and to top the group and finish a topsy turvy year on a high. It won’t be easy but a small but rambunctuous Meadow Park crowd might be an important marginal factor.
TEAM NEWS
Kim Little is fit to play after coming through her 33 minute sub appearance at Liverpool on Sunday, Lia Walti is out as she is still recovering from surgery for an abscess. Victoria Pelova (knee) and Amanda Ilestedt (returning from maternity leave) are out.
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 61.Harbert
Forwards: 8.Mariona 9.Mead 17.Hurtig 19.Foord 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius 53.Lia 56.Godfrey
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘We’re gonna play at Boreham Wood tomorrow and I think what’s positive about Boreham Wood is that we’re so close to the fans. It’s a very intimate place to be. So I think we get that extra connection. We’re very close to each other. So that’s positive for tomorrow from a facilities perspective.
‘Obviously, the Emirates has all the space. There’s room for everything, there’s technology, and that’s different than Boreham Wood, but we’ve been doing that for such a long time, and we have a good process in place for tomorrow as well.
‘Pernille Harder is part of their threats, as a team they have certain threats as well – we’ve discussed most of it, we feel comfortable with understanding who Bayern is, what they do, what they have done previously, what they did against us in the away leg, but obviously they can come out and do something different, so we have to be on our toes. I think we feel prepared as a team.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met on match day one, Arsenal were beaten 5-2. They took the lead through Mariona before Viggisdottir’s equaliser. Sydney Lohmann gave Bayern a second half lead before Laia Codina’s equaliser. But a hat trick in the final 20 minutes from Pernille Harder meant Bayern were 5-2 winners. The last time the teams met in North London was in March 2023 in the quarter-finals, the Gunners overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius.
THE OPPOSITION
Bayern’s slip up on match day four in Oslo has presented Arsenal with the opportunity to leapfrog them and it has been a tight and interesting season for Bayern. In truth, Arsenal outplayed them for the first 30 minutes in Munich but as soon as Bayern equalised, Arsenal heads dropped.
Munich eventually won the game on setpieces (perish the thought…) Closer to home, Bayern are embroiled in one of the most exciting title races across Europe. They trail Eintracht Frankfurt at the top of the league on goal difference, with Wolfsburg just one point further back and Bayer Leverkusen a point back still.
What is beyond doubt is Bayern’s quality, with players like Georgia Stanway, Giulia Gwinn inverting from right back, Sarah Zadrazil, Pernille Harder and Klara Buhl, they have a lot of individual quality, as they showed on match day one. They scored five goals without really dominating the game. They will provide a stern examination for Arsenal again.
PLAYER TO WATCH
As I pointed out in my analysis piece for the Liverpool game earlier this week, Arsenal have really missed their long established midfield double pivot of Kim Little and Lia Walti in the last two WSL games, especially in Sunday’s win at Liverpool. The game became a little too transitional with Mariona joining Kyra Cooney-Cross in the midfield double pivot.
Essentially, Arsenal have been saving Kim Little for this game. The Scot probably could have played in Valarenga or against Villa and certainly could have started the Liverpool game. But with Walti missing, Renee Slegers knew that Kim Little needed protecting at all costs. Coming into this game without both midfield controllers would make for a tough assignment.
Bayern are incredibly strong in the midfield even with Lena Oberdorf injured. Stanway and Zigiotti are an excellent midfield pivot with Giulia Gwinn tucking in and joining them from right-back. How Arsenal control that area will be key and Slegers knows this well, clearly she felt Arsenal could manage their way through the previous three games because she didn’t want to leave this one to chance.
PREDICTED LINE UPS
Subs: 1.Zinsberger 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 9.Mead 16.Kafaji 17.Hurtig 22.Kuhl 25.Blackstenius 26.Wienroither 40.Williams 56.Godfrey 62.Reid
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The game kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday evening at Meadow Park and will be streamed live on DAZN’s YouTube channel. The match will also be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK.
COMING UP
We will have the usual on the whistle match report from Aidan Gibson, as well as every word from Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference shortly after the final whistle. Jamie and I will have a half-season review podcast next week too covering the season so far, as well as hopes for the January transfer window. We also have another podcast planned for you during the winter break.
