THE LOWDOWN
Arsenal travel to Brisbane Road on Sunday for a North London Derby in the WSL. The teams actually come into the game level on points after a slow beginning to autumn for Arsenal, there were good and bad elements to take from last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. In terms of performance, there were good and bad elements in the 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The issue is that the result was a disaster and the order that the good and bad things arrived in in Germany, with an outstanding performance in the first half and a 2-0 lead giving way to a disastrous last 25 minutes. Already without Leah Williamson, a midfield without Kim Little has made the Gunners’ spine far too brittle.
Tottenham have moved to a much more high pressure, transitional approach under Martin Ho and when the teams met during pre-season, Spurs prevailed 4-3 in a topsy turvy game. One hopes the Arsenal staff have reviewed that game to prevent a repeat on Sunday and to assert more control over the game.
Having already dropped points against Manchester United, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Chelsea, there is no margin for error on Sunday for Arsenal. They could certainly do with a boost after a trying couple of months. A North London Derby is always must win, this is just a little more must win than usual for Arsenal.
TEAM NEWS
Kim Little won’t be available after picking up a knock in the Leicester game and she is unlikely to be available before the international break. Leah Williamson is becoming more involved in training and Renee Slegers is optimistic she can return before Christmas. Manu Zinsberger and Katie Reid (both ACL) are out.
Available squad
Goalkeepers: 14.van Domselaar, 28.Borbe, 53.Liddiard
Defenders: 2.Fox, 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.L.Codina, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe, 22.Nighswonger, 24.Hinds, 44.Harwood
Midfielders: 8.Mariona, 12.L.Maanum, 21.Pelova, 32.Cooney-Cross, 43.Peacock
Forwards: 9.Mead, 15.Smith, 18.Kelly, 19.Foord, 23.Russo, 25.Blackstenius
A WORD FROM THE BOSS
‘I think if we look at where the squad was at after Chelsea, positive, of course, very disappointed. But there was a real belief and there was a lot of positives in our performance. They turned that around in a good way, I think. You see it the first off against Bayern. I think we do a lot of really, really good things. But then, of course, you’re not happy with the second half. how we don’t manage that second half, so that’s not good enough.
‘That’s really disappointing and we’ve acknowledged that as a collective. So everyone is involved and everyone’s taking responsibilities. That’s good and actually we had a really good session with lots of energy, so the players will use this as fuel going into their North London Derby.
‘Spurs are more aggressive in the way they play. They go high, they go player for player and they want to win balls in the opposition half and that’s different from what they did last year. So they’ve been performing really well, so we have to be really smart with how we managed the game and what spaces we try to attack in the game.’
LAST TIME OUT
When the teams met at the Emirates in February the Gunners ran out 5-0 winners thanks to a Claire Hunt own goal and goals from Mariona, Frida Maanum, Alessia Russo and Emily Fox. In the away game last season, Arsenal were 3-0 winners with goals from Russo, Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius.
THE OPPOSITION
Spurs parted company with Swedish coach Robert Vilahamn over the summer after a poor 2024-25 season that saw them finish second from bottom. They appointed Liverpudlian coach Martin Ho, who had been Marc Skinner’s assistant at Manchester United before doing an excellent job with Brann in Norway.
Under Ho, Spurs have moved to a much more positive, front footed and high pressing brand of football, reflecting trends we are seeing across the WSL. Spurs make the highest number of tackles in the league and commit the highest number of fouls, Ho has given them teeth after some meek performances last season.
Tottenham like to bait the opposition press, they actually sit bottom of the league for progressive passes and take more touches in their own penalty area than any other in the WSL. They have some similarities to Everton in that they like to draw opponents onto them before then playing through them quickly. However, they have shown some vulnerabilities behind their full-backs and defending crosses, which London City Lionesses exploited last weekend.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Arsenal’s midfield has struggled for organisation and recovery ability without captain Kim Little. I think it is entirely reasonable for fans to be annoyed that the team is still so reliant on a 35-year-old player even if she is one of the best players in the club’s history still performing at a very high level. Alas, we are where we are.
When Arseblog News asked Renee Slegers about Arsenal’s off-ball organisation without Little she admitted she was still looking for the right personnel to finesse the midfield formula. ‘We’ve been looking at what are we doing structurally out of possession to make sure that that space isn’t too open for the opposition and then it’s, of course, also the personnel question of what player is the player that plays that role for us when Kim isn’t on the pitch.’
Arsenal have partnered Mariona with Victoria Pelova over the last two games, both of whom are players who’ve made their names playing as number 10s. Kyra Cooney-Cross is a deep lying playmaker but not a natural defender when play is behind her. In short, with Walti sold and Little (and Williamson?) injured, Arsenal don’t have a natural defensive midfield player so how Slegers reorganises in this position will be the main focus for Sunday.
MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Subs: 5.L.Codina, 11.McCabe, 18.Kelly, 19.Foord, 22.Nighswonger, 25.Blackstenius, 28.Borbe, 32.Cooney-Cross, 44.Harwood
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME
The match takes place at Brisbane Road at 2.30pm on Sunday and will be screened live on Sky Sports in the UK. Details on how to watch it across the globe are available here.