by Andrew Crawshaw
Firstly I must apologise for stating the wrong kick-off time in part 1 of my preview. The match starts at 13:30 (not 12:30). It will also be broadcast live on BBC1 in the UK with coverage starting at 13:15.
The Met Office weather forecast is for an overcast day with a 40% chance of light rain at 13:00 and less than 10% chance of rain through the rest of the day. Temperature is likely to be about 17C.
At the end of the same fixture last season Jonas Eidevall said that he was glad that the team who played football won. Spurs are known for being the team in the WSL who commit the most fouls and the addition of Drew Spence in midfield is unlikely to change that statistic.
In his Friday press conference, Jonas Eidevall made the following points
First every game is important.
Second, all games start with both teams level and it is necessary for the team to produce their best form possible to ensure that we end the game with more goals than our opponents. If we think that we are favourites and deserve to win then that complacency may easily result in us not ending up with more goals than our opponents.
Then when asked about the fixture schedule he said that before the Brighton game it had been four months since our last competitive game and he would far rather have three games in 8 days than one in four months. A busy schedule of games enables you to stay switched on all the time
Regarding the likely crowd of 51,000 plus he stressed that these were all sold tickets, rather than give-aways meaning that the interest is real. He also gave credit to past teams for their achievements in building the game to the present level. He poo-pooed any suggestion that our players might be stage-struck by the size of the crowd, pointing out that most of them had been involved in cup finals and international games with similar-sized crowds.
He agreed with a statement put to him about Beth Mead being one of the best players in the world with a small proviso that she is when she is at the top of her game, playing with self-confidence and undertaking her actions, whether that is pressing an opponent, making an interception, blocking a pass, making a pass herself as well as being involved in shots on goal.
He was also asked about us having a reduced dependence on Vivianne Miedema for scoring goals and he said that it is important for all teams to have multiple ways of scoring and players capable of scoring. That way you don’t become too predictable and are more difficult to prevent from scoring.
He said that these occasions with big crowds at the Emirates mustn’t be one-offs. We play two more WSL games at the Emirates – against Manchester United on 20 November and Chelsea on 15 January and he wants to see a similar interest in these games as well.
In terms of team news, Jonas confirmed that Teyah Goldie remains absent recovering from her knee injury, Mana Iwabuchi was ill for the Eindhoven game in midweek but would be fit again for Saturday
Vivianne Miedema has also been talking about playing at the Emirates in an interview given to the Evening Standard she said that she wants there to be good atmosphere in the ground and that playing there in the past in front of a few thousand resulted in a far worse atmosphere that at at smaller grounds like Borehamwood. I’m sure she will have nothing to complain about on Saturday.
I still consider Arsenal to have by far the better team and expect us to emerge comfortable winners (albeit probably battered and bruised) on Saturday afternoon. I’ll say 2 – 0 although I would prefer 3 – 0.
Likely Starting 11 – I think we will revert to the team that started against Brighton
Manuella Zinsberger (GK)
Laura Wienroither, Rafaelle Souza, Leah Williamson, Katie McCabe
Lia Wälti, Kim Little
Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Caitlin Foord
Stina Blackstenius
Subs
Kaylan Marchese (GK), Lotte Wubben-Moy, Jen Beattie, Nöelle Maritz, Mana Iwabuchi, Steph Catley, Lina Hurtig, Jordan Nobbs, Frida Maanum.
- Slowly the media wakes up to the notion that Uefa is being run by one family
- Fans are getting a bit more uppity, but who’s fault is that?
Arsenal History Society
2-0 at the break. It should have been much more but good enoug at half time. Another one to give Andrew his disered final score but I wouldn’t mint us scoring a few more. That Neville character really is a despicable player. Fouling and moaning and moaning and fouling. I really dislike her
4-0 final score. Good win
Well that was a fun game 2-0 in each half and at no time were we seriously threatened. Beth Mead with the openerin the fifth minute settled any nerves and we were dominant throughout. Caitlin Foord was preferred to Blackstenius up front and the Sours defenders never really got to grips with her direct running. At the end of the half We pressured the spurs keeper, her pass was intercepted and passed to Viv. One on one with the keeper, only one place the ball was going. Two nil to Arsenal and no more than we deserved. In the second half we were equally dominant. Rafaelle made it three with a header and Viv made it four also with a header, her last action before being substituted.