Arseblog News

THE LOWDOWN

Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur in the WSL at Emirates Stadium on Saturday teatime. The Gunners come into the derby off the back of 10 consecutive wins across the WSL, Champions League and FIFA Champions Cup. It’s in stark contrast to the last time the teams met in November when Spurs held an Arsenal lacking in inspiration to a 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient.

On the back of that game, Arseblog News asked Slegers whether Arsenal were going through a bad spell and she responded, ‘Yeah, of course. We said it in the changing room with the players. It’s hard at the moment. We can’t deny it.’ Fast forward to now and Arsenal come into the game on a winning run and with a 3-1 lead to take to Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final next week.

That said, keeping focus on this game with a big second leg in West London on Wednesday will be critical. Recent draws for Chelsea and Manchester United in the WSL mean Arsenal do have 2nd place in their own hands in the WSL- but there is still a long way to go for the remainder of this season.

It is the third of four consecutive London derbies for Arsenal and they cannot afford to take their eye off the ball. They have forged themselves a good groove in recent weeks and they need to work hard to stay in it. Spurs held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw at Brisbane Road in November and defeated Arsenal 4-3 during pre-season, so there is no room for complacency.

TEAM NEWS

Steph Catleyand Caitlin Foord are set to return to the squad following their return from the Asian Cup. Kyra Cooney-Cross has stayed in Australia to be with her family and will remain home for the remainder of the season. The game will come slightly too soon for Leah Williamson (hamstring), while Manu Zinsberger, Katie Reid and Michelle Agyemang miss out with ACL injuries.

Available squad

Goalkeepers: 13.Votikova, 14.van Domselaar, 28.Borbe, 40.Williams

Defenders: 2.Fox, 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.L.Codina, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe, 24.Hinds, 31.Holmberg

Midfielders: 8.Mariona, 10.Little, 12.L.Maanum, 21.Pelova, 67.Brodie

Forwards: 9.Mead, 15.Smith, 18.Kelly, 19.Foord, 23.Russo, 25.Blackstenius

A WORD FROM THE BOSS

We have to keep on doing what we’re doing and fuel ourselves with the belief that we have and all the things that we’re doing at the moment that are contributing to our performances and results. There’s a lot of big and small things that we’re consistently doing at a high level and that’s what we’re pushing and we want to keep on improving.

Everything that we’ve done before will count in this game. We’re gonna attack this game together with the fans. At the moment, I think around 45, 47,000 tickets sold. So we’ll be there together with the fans and we’ll be shoulder to shoulder and we want to give them everything we possibly can and they will give it back because this is a very special game and I think it will be a very special occasion at the Emirates tomorrow.

They’ve posed different questions in the two games so far (the teams played one another in pre-season). So let’s see what they what they do tomorrow at the Emirates, playing in a North London Derby, what their strategy will be. But again, we have to plan for all the scenarios and be really good in all phases of the game. There’s a couple of things that we really want to do tomorrow. We’ll have focus on ourselves and then we’ll see how Tottenham comes out.

LAST TIME OUT

When the teams met at Brisbane Road in November, Spurs held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw. When the teams faced off at Emirates Stadium last season, the Gunners ran out 5-0 winners thanks to goals from Mariona, Frida Maanum, Alessia Russo, Emily Fox and a Claire Hunt own goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N1G8fJREsE

THE OPPOSITION

Tottenham finished second bottom of the WSL last season. While they were comfortably clear of the relegation spot, finishing 10 points clear of the WSL trap door, it was clear that something needed to change. Swedish coach Robert Vilahamn left and was replaced by Martin Ho, who had enjoyed a very good spell as Head Coach of Brann after a highly rated three years as assistant coach at Manchester United.

Ho revived Tottenham’s fortunes and quickly made them a surprise contender for Champions League qualification during the first half of the campaign. At the point of their 0-0 draw with Arsenal in November, they were only one point behind the Gunners in the WSL table. Spurs have fallen away a little, they are six points behind Arsenal having played two games more.

However, there was never any realistic aspiration of finishing ahead of their North London rivals. Sitting 5th nine points clear of sixth placed Everton is much more where Spurs would pitch themselves. They have signed strong Scandinavian talent with Amanda and Matilda Nilden, Hanna Wijk and Norwegian sensation Signe Gaupset.

Tottenham should finish comfortably in the ‘best of the rest’ position in the WSL this season. The question for clubs who finish 5th is always how they build on that and Spurs have been there before, in 2021-22 they finished 5th in the WSL and in 2022-23 found themselves in a relegation battle again. Spurs have spent well but there is always the spectre of the ‘big four’ taking your best players. Tottenham have built a strong foundation with Martin Ho, the question is whether they have the ambition to try to go to the next level.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Kim Little extended her Arsenal contract for a further year this week and it makes sense for all parties. Kim remains in the conversation for the best player in the league as she approaches her 36th birthday and she still starts every game more or less, let alone every important game.

The club’s desire to keep Little on was obvious for obvious reasons, it was only a question of whether the player herself wanted to continue. Happily, she does. There will be a fuss made of Kim at this game, having signed her new contract and having passed 400 appearances for the club recently. And rightly so.

I imagine Kim will be ‘looked after’ in this game and won’t play the full 90 minutes given the second leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, where she will certainly be required for the full 90 minutes and potentially beyond. But you watch football, you don’t need me to tell you why Kim is important in this game, it’s the same reason she is important in every game and she will be for the 406th time on Saturday.

MY PREDICTED LINE UP

Subs: 2.Fox 7.Catley 13.Votikova 14.van Domselaar 18.Kelly 19.Foord 21.Pelova 23.Russo 24.Hinds

HOW TO CATCH THE GAME

The game kicks off at 5.30pm at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, it will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK. Full global listings are available here.

COMING UP

We will have the lineup posted around an hour before kickoff, Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report and every word of Renee Slegers’ post match press conference will be online around an hour after the final whistle. Jamie and I will have a podcast for you on Monday and we will likely have a tactical analysis piece on the game too.

An Eberechi Eze hat-trick, and a goal from Leandro Trossard saw Arsenal smash Sp*rs 4-1 at the Emirates the afternoon.

The Belgian opened the scoring in the first half, before Eze scored a brace either side of the break. Richarlison got one back midway through the second half, but the day was all about Eze, and he cracked home his third and Arsenal’s fourth to make sure of the win and the all-important points in the title race.

Here’s how the players rated…

Read the Arsenal 4-1 Sp*rs match report and see the goals here

The ratings are hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above David Raya. Also, please give the ratings a few seconds to load.

Arsenal 4-1 Sp*rs – Player Ratings

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Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw away at Spurs in the WSL at Brisbane Road on Sunday, Renee Slegers spoke to the press post match. The first two questions are from Arseblog News.

On whether she felt Arsenal created enough to win the game…

I think the first half we’re kind of feeling each other out and I think Tottenham are much stronger this year than last year and they have a more aggressive pressing structure, they can do it physically, and are very brave on the ball when they build and especially in our press, we wanted to be patient and bait them in areas and create certain turnovers. I think we did that at times. So that’s why maybe the first half looked a little bit like we were feeling each other out, that was the case.

We wanted to to find the right moments and we always knew that the second half was going to be important for us off the back of the Munich game, but also knowing Tottenham and how they usually play their 90 minute games, we knew the second half is going to be big for us. I think we showed that in the way we come out and the players coming on with a lot of energy and quality, with Taylor and Olivia and from the 46 minutes.

We create momentum, so I’m happy with that and we have a lot of situations in and around their box, but we need to capitalise when we have momentum. It was again about momentum like it was after Bayern, but now on the other side, what we’ll look at is can we, I think we get passes into their box. The finishes aren’t so easy from those moments we get in the box, so that’s definitely something we want to look at. Yeah we have shots, but can we creates bigger and better opportunities with clearer shooting opportunities?

On whether it feels like a difficult period at the moment…

Yeah, of course. We said it in the changing room with the players. It’s hard at the moment. We can’t deny it and even though we are happy with Leicester, happy with a lot of things, not a result against Chelsea, but a lot of things in the performance, happy with the first half against Bayern. So it’s not only hard and negative, there’s also a lot of positives, but we’re not getting the wins that we want at the moment and a club like Arsenal, of course, wants and needs to win. So it’s a frustrating period, but we still see enough to keep on building on and we see that there’s things we can do, that will turn it around for us, because we believe that we we have all this quality and we did so well last year that hasn’t just gone away.

On the drop off in performances this season…

It depends on what you’re looking at and what angle you take. Champions League was also hard for us last year. We had to come back a couple of times, and we scored those three goals against Madrid in the second leg. Like, it wasn’t easy, but we had the grit and determination and the belief that we could that we could get what we wanted. And that’s still there. I think after that Champions League win, I think that showed how good we are when we’re at our very, very best and that’s something we need to keep on building on. How can we be consistently at our best? and how do we get things over the line when things are hard for us? Like I just said to Tim, there’s no denying that it’s not coming easy for us at the moment.

On why the team still can’t find consistency…

That’s the million dollar question that we all try to answer and that we all try to work on every single day. Is it different expectations off the back of the last season and the success we had? I think that’s always playing a little role in the background, probably. Then there’s some changes in the squad, so you have to build new relationships through the season, through the first block, a couple of players come away from us, like Leah and Kim, Kate Reid now. But everyone goes through that, we just have to look at our game and I think the WSL has changed more teams can compete, you see it, it’s not as easy anymore and teams play differently, so we have to find solutions for those types of games as well.

On whether winning the Champions League inflated expectations…

A good question. I don’t think we spoke much about it ourselves, but of course, what we said off the back of last season is, look at what we can do when we’re at our very, very best, and that creates belief in what we’re doing and how good we can be. But we set ourselves in the place as well. We need to be very humble because that was a one off, and it was a difficult journey for us as well, that Champions League journey and the challenge is to perform at this level consistently.

On Kyra Cooney-Cross’ performance…

Very good. She’s shown that she was ready to start today. I think she was disciplined in her positioning. I need to watch it back, there’s always detail where she could have done something like everyone else. But in general, she has discipline in her positioning and then you can see how much quality she has on the ball.

On the double substitution at half time…

We always planned for scenarios but it was partly technical. There was a yellow card involved as well. It’s a North London Derby and we know that gets heated and has emotions involved, so that was one of the reasons on the left back position, also Taylor Hinds has been doing really well consistently, trains really well. I think she did well today coming on. And then Olivia Smith, we’ve loaded Beth a lot the last couple of games. She’s played a lot, so we needed a new energy injection and something else on that wing and wanted to go more one v one on their fullbacks. And then, of course, Olivia Smith is a really good option for us, and we’re really happy. She’s been managing some medical issues since the camp with Canada, but she’s been training more consistently now and she was ready to play today, so that’s a real asset for us.

On Steph Catley’s leadership with Little and Williamson missing…

We miss Kim and Leah. They are our captains for a reason. They feel strongly for the club. They understand the club really well and they are experienced players Of course, we miss them, but we have a captaincy group with Katie McCabe and Steph Catley and they all do it together now and still Kim and Leah are in the environment are still good leaders for us. They’re just not active for us on match day. So Steph is wearing the armband and she does it really well. She’s calm, she’s a leader. She communicates really well and especially in these kinds of games, you need composure and someone who is composed and likes to find solutions. But they’re carrying it together, so together with Lotte and Kate is just someone needs to wear the armband.

Arsenal: Van Domselaar; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley, McCabe; Cooney-Cross, Mariona; Mead, Russo, Foord; Blackstenius

Substitutes: Borbe, Codina, Maanum, Smith, Kelly, Pelova, Nighswonger, Hinds, Harwood

Arsenal’s slim hopes of winning the WSL are over now after drawing 0-0 with Tottenham. The result — a third successive match without winning — leaves Arsenal a whopping 8 points behind Manchester City, who are top, and a point behind Manchester United in third place, with Arsenal failing to take advantage of City’s big win over United.

Renée Slegers made one change to the lineup, with Kyra Cooney-Cross coming into midfield. Victoria Pelova dropped onto the bench.

Summanen forced a save from Van Domselaar after Tandberg won a free kick about 30 yards from goal.

Arsenal’s first real chance came on 14 minutes. From a throw in, Fox and Russo combined, and Fox drove infield before shooting from range left-footed. The shot had good power but was straight at Kop.

A good Spurs move from back to front saw Neville play the ball behind for Naz and she crossed into the centre but Vinberg couldn’t make contact.

Foord drove into the box and looked for Mariona. The cutback was cleared by came to Cooney-Cross, whose shot went just wide of the corner of the goal frame.

Arsenal had a couple of dangerous moments winning the ball in the final third but couldn’t get the final ball right.

McCabe’s cross was deflected but Mead laid it off for Russo, whose half-volleyed shot went just wide.

On 39 minutes, Arsenal tested Kop again. Mariona found Mead in the middle, and while her pass to Blackstenius was behind her, the Swede was able to skillfully get past Hunt before shooting, with Kop blocking the attempt and then grabbing the ball.

McCabe was booked on 41 minutes after dragging Holdt down on the break.

Slegers made two changes at half time. Taylor Hinds replaced McCabe, while Olivia Smith replaced Beth Mead.

Arsenal moved from back to front, and Fox found Smith. Smith get around Nilden with ease and pulled the ball back to Blackstenius, who ballooned her shot over.

On 57 minutes, Frida Maanum replaced Stina Blackstenius.

Arsenal had an excellent chance on 61 minutes. Wubben-Moy won the ball back, and carried into the final third. She played into Russo, who flicked the ball for Smith to run in behind. She shot, but straight at Kop, and Spurs scrambled the ball away.

Arsenal won a corner on 81 minutes and Arsenal went short. Mariona, from the edge of the box, had space for a shot but it was always going over.

On 86 minutes, Chloe Kelly replaced Caitlin Foord.

There were 5 minutes added on.

Smith won a free kick late on but Arsenal chose to go short, and Spurs ran out the clock.

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.

Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Cooney-Cross, Wälti; Foord, Maanum, Mariona; Russo

Substitutes: Zinsberger, Codina, Mead, Little, Kelly, Nighswonger, Blackstenius, Ilestedt, Reid

Arsenal have beaten Tottenham (who get battered everywhere they go) 5-0 in front of 56,784 fans at the Emirates Stadium, with goals from Alessia Russo, Mariona, Frida Maanum, and Emily Fox.

Renée Slegers restored Daphne van Domselaar, Emily Fox, and Steph Catley to the back five, while Caitlin Foord returned from injury, and Alessia Russo returned to centre forward. Chloe Kelly, eligible for the first time since joining on loan, was on the bench.

Maite Oroz had an early sighter after Arsenal initially cleared a free kick.

Arsenal took the lead on 15 minutes. Cooney-Cross took possession on the right wing after Raso fell over and lost the ball. Cooney-Cross crossed for Russo, whose flicked header went into the bottom corner via a deflection from Clare Hunt. 1-0.

A minute later, Foord seized on a loose ball in the Tottenham penalty box, but Kop pushed her shot away.

Russo then turned away beautifully from Hunt in the penalty box, but her shot from the left corner of the 6 yard-box was straight at Kop. Kop then saved from Foord: Mariona’s ability in tight spaces kept the ball, and then McCabe’s cross found an open Foord, but her left footed shot was, again, straight at Kop.

Russo got ahead of Hunt to reach Catley’s cross, but Kop was able to parry behind for a corner.

Mariona made it 2-0 on 35 minutes. Maanum smartly found Mariona on the edge of the ‘D.’ Her first shot was blocked by Bartrip, but came back to back her, and her second shot went into the far corner. 2-0.

On 44 minutes, McCabe played a corner short to Mariona, and got the return in acres of space. Her cross was floated to the front of the goal, where Maanum headed over. Seconds later, Mariona and Maanum combined on the right. Maanum played the ball over the top, and Russo headed just wide. Kop then saved from Wälti on the stroke of half-time.

Arsenal should have made it 3-0 on 50 minutes. McCabe robbed Ashleigh Neville, and played into Russo. Russo’s first shot was blocked, but she got the rebound, but her second shot was too central and Kop was able to push wide.

Frida Maanum would make it 3-0 on 51 minutes. Wälti found Foord coming from the outside, and Foord passed short to Maanum. Maanum shot from the edge of the area, and the shot, on target, went in via a hefty deflection off of Hunt. 3-0.

Russo made it 4-0 with a blistering counter attack on 58 minutes. Williamson played long into midfield, where Maanum’s clever flick found Foord. Foord drove on and on through the middle of the pitch, then played to Russo on the right. Russo shot first time across the goal, and her shot went in off the post. 4-0.

Arsenal made a double substitution on the hour. Stina Blackstenius replaced Frida Maanum and Chloe Kelly replaced Caitlin Foord.

Blackstenius would test Kop after Mariona drove forward on the break.

Van Domselaar was called into action on 65 minutes, parrying away Drew Spence’s header from a corner.

Kelly’s first involvement was to play a good ball over the top for Blackstenius. She couldn’t turn Hunt, but shot, with the ball going out for a corner.

Kelly would then play a one-two with Fox, and then cross to the far post, but McCabe, coming round the back, couldn’t get power on the header.

Arsenal made a double substitution on 76 minutes, with Laia Codina and Kim Little replacing Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-Cross.

Beth England would test van Domselaar with a shot from a narrow angle, which she comfortably held.

On 87 minutes, Jenna Nighswonger replaced Mariona. Nighswonger went to left back and McCabe pushed further forward.

A minute later, Spurs broke well. Grant chased a long ball down the left and played back to Martha Thomas. Her cross found Holdt in the centre, but the header was wide.

Emily Fox’s first WSL goal made it 5-0 on 90 minutes. Little set the American up, and from the inside right channel, 25 yards from goal, Fox’s shot arrowed into the top left corner. 5-0.

There was still time for one more effort. Chloe Kelly beat Ella Morris on the goal line, kept the ball in play, and looked to chip Kop from a narrow angle. Her shot, though, went off the bar, denying her a dream return to Arsenal.

THE LOWDOWN

Arsenal play Spurs at Emirates Stadium in the WSL on Sunday with a crowd of over 50,000 expected in North London. It has been an up and down couple of weeks for Arsenal with league defeat at Stamford Bridge and a League Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester City wedged between a WSL win away at City and an FA Cup 5th round victory against London City Lionesses.

After an intense schedule, the squad had a week to prepare for this game which has been a rare luxury since the resumption of the season in January. Their squad is also now one player bigger with January deadline day loan signing Chloe Kelly finally eligible to play after being ineligible for the double header against her parent club Manchester City and the cup tie against LCL.

This week’s Arsenal Women Newsletter focuses on areas of adaption for Rosa Kafaji before she can become more integrated into the team and why Kyra Cooney-Cross and her own adaption period and improvement should serve as inspiration for Kafaji

awnewsletter.arseblog.com/adaptation/

— Tim Stillman (@tim-stillman.bsky.social) 10 February 2025 at 09:10

The Gunners have been dealing with health issues in their squad with players like Kim Little, Beth Mead, Lina Hurtig and Rosa Kafaji missing, while players like Caitlin Foord and Lia Walti have had their minutes managed while they play with some muscular issues. Another week’s R&R and the addition of Kelly to the squad makes it look a little more robust.

Arsenal have won all of their WSL home games against Spurs since they were promoted into the top flight in 2019-20 and Renee Slegers and her squad will aim to continue that streak on Sunday. The victory at City fortnight ago has put them in the box seat for second place with a run of winnable games until they face Manchester United at home on the final day of the season, they won’t want any slip ups.

TEAM NEWS

Beth Mead could return to the squad after missing the last two games with a calf strain but Rosa Kafaji misses out. Kim Little is in full training after having surgery on a broken finger and could be in contention. Lina Hurtig is out with a muscular injury. Victoria Pelova made a big step in her recovery this week by playing for the U21s on Wednesday but won’t quite make the squad for this game.

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 22.Nighswonger 28.Ilestedt 62.Reid

Midfielders: 10.Little 12.L.Maanum 13.Walti 32.Cooney-Cross

Forwards: 8.Mariona 9.Mead 18.Kelly 19.Foord 23.Russo 25.Blackstenius

Out: 16.Kafaji 17.Hurtig 21.Pelova

A WORD FROM THE BOSS

‘It is a North London derby, it is a rivalry, they will feel it and we will feel it and hopefully we can make them very uncomfortable at the Emirates. But they have been performing well they have been recruiting a few players. We will have to respect their strengths, as with every opposition there are areas to exploit and that is what we are going after on Sunday.

‘They will have another midfield (without Summanen) but they will still play their game and she was obviously a physical presence in midfield but she has other qualities, like smart in her positioning and shots from distance. They will definitely try to replace that with other qualities and every player comes in with their own strengths, we will see what they ask of their midfielders on Sunday.

‘When we go to the Emirates on Sunday we know the pitch is going to be very nice and that is going to help our technical game and our passing game, we definitely look forward to the game because of the pitch. But mostly we look forward to it because it’s a North London derby and we have 55,000 tickets sold at the moment, we are really looking forward to seeing our fans.’

LAST TIME OUT

When the teams met in November at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Arsenal were 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Alessia Russo, Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius. In this fixture last season, a goal from Russo was enough to give the home side a 1-0 victory.

THE OPPOSITION

Tottenham have had something of a strange season this year, they currently sit slap bang in midtable 6th in the league, they have won five of their 12 games so far but have only looked genuinely impressive on a handful of occasions. Having Beth England upfront is a massive boon for Robert Vilahamn’s side, her seven goals in the WSL this season is the same as Russo and Guro Reiten. Only Bunny Shaw (9) has scored more.

The pattern of Tottenham’s season is that they beat the teams in the bottom half but lose to the teams in the top half. After a series of heavy defeats against ‘the big four’ earlier in the season, they corrected a little last time around, only losing by a single goal against Manchester United at home. However, they generated very little threat in that game.

Finding the balance between defence and attack continues to be a big issue against the bigger teams. Disappointing exits in both domestic cups to West Ham and Everton mean that Spurs’ season is now struggling for purpose. They can be defensively weak on their left side, which will be an interesting area to watch in this game.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Chloe Kelly will make her second debut for Arsenal in this game, it is just a question of whether she starts or comes on from the bench. Nevertheless, all eyes will be on Kelly who was left out of Sarina Wiegman’s England squad this week for the first time since Wiegman took charge. It creates an extra motivation for Kelly to take this loan spell by the scruff of the neck.

On the downside, her alienation at City followed by being ineligible for the first three games since signing for Arsenal means that she lacks rhythm. This is the last game before the international break and being omitted from the national team is not helpful for Chloe and her quest to rediscover the rhythm of games.

For Arsenal, it is an incredibly necessary addition. They have been underpowered from wide positions in the matchday squad for a long time now, Lina Hurtig’s continued injury issues mean they have effectively had three wide players for the last two and a half years. It’s meant an increased workload on Mead and Foord and has sometimes cost Arsenal the opportunity to power up from the bench.

PREDICTED LINE UP

Subs: 1.Zinsberger 3.Wubben-Moy 5.L.Codina 9.Mead 10.Little 18.Kelly 22.Nighswonger 25.Blackstenius 28.Ilestedt

HOW TO CATCH THE GAME

The match takes place at Emirates Stadium at 12.30pm on Sunday and will be screened live on BBC Two in the UK. The game will be screened live on ESPN 2 and ESPN+ in the US.

COMING UP

We will have all the usual post-match content, Aidan Gibson’s on the whistle match report, every word of Renee Slegers’ post-match press conference on the site around an hour after the final whistle. Jamie and I will have a post-match podcast for you on Monday morning and we will have the tactical analysis piece on the site later on Monday or on Tuesday.

Arsenal were 3-0 winners away at Spurs in the North London derby on Saturday lunchtime thanks to goals from Alessia Russo, Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.

On Catley at centre-half allowing McCabe to become another attacker…

Good spot! I don’t want to talk too much about what we want to try to create but we want to try to create numbers in different areas of the pitch. Steph did really well today recognising that but all our centre-backs would be good at that, we would ask the same thing of another centre-back but Steph is doing that really well at the moment.

On whether Tottenham playing a back five was a surprise today…

We saw their line-up against City where Bartip was in midfield and we saw their line-up this afternoon and we expected them to stay in the four and do the same thing as they did against City but they decided to play in a five. We have played against a lot of fives this year, so our players are very adaptable, so we adapted quickly. It says something about how hard it is to stop things we are doing so that is very positive.

On whether the players are thinking less and playing more one touch football…

You will have to ask the players but I think so. The quickest football is played instinctively but there still needs to be a foundation the hardest part in coaching is finding the balance between foundations and structure and letting the players freedom and creativity go. At the moment it seems to be right for the players but you’ll have to ask the players.

On the players taking more ownership…

We try to facilitate as much as we can to set them up in a good way, for example how much we ask them to be involved in meetings. Instead of us presenting we ask them to activate their brains and see wha they think, they often have really good ideas as well. That is one example.

On the players and the fans being happy and what it means to her…

Very positive, it means a lot for the players, the staff, the club and the fans. It’s the chicken or egg question, where does the smiles comes from? Behaviours are contagious as well, when one person starts smiling others smile too. Where it started is hard to grasp, there are so many factors to it but I am happy it seems to be happening.

On whether the players wanted to put last year’s defeat here right…

It was for them I think, I know the players have been talking about it. We just try to stay in the moment and keep our positive momentum but, yes, definitely, for a couple of players it meant a bit of extra fire.

On whether she wants the job permanently…

The block has gone really well so far and we have one more game ahead of us and we’re going to do everything to get a good result and performance in that last game. After that, we start breathing but at the moment we stay in this focus because we have a lot of hard work to do.

On the importance of an early goal…

Big events always give the game a direction. It is not necessarily it has to go in that direction, everything can change still but Alessia scoring that early goal and Daphne making that save early in the game, it helps us big time. I am very happy with the start of the game.

On two goals conceded in the last six games…

In the structure we are not doing much different but we focus on areas we want to focus on and how we act in both boxes, that is where games are won and lost and the players have taken it on brilliantly, that has been one of our focus areas. I am very happy with that.

On how the mindset of the players has changed…

One of the words we use a lot in this block is ‘ruthlesslness’, we want to be ruthless in both boxes. It is easy to say it but turning it into action is much harder. The players are trying to turn it into action, we try to facilitate for them and put emphasis on a couple of things but they are actually doing it and I am very happy they are getting success out of what they are doing at the moment. We need to maintain that and develop it further because new challenges are coming.

On how subs are impacting games recently…

We have such a great squad it is hard to make decisions, how to start and how to finish the games but the luxury we have is that we have scenario planning for that. Players are starting the game really but also players are finishing the games really well. Our last couple of games we have been really decisive in the last 15-20 minutes and that is when our game changers are on the pitch, I am very happy with how the group is working at the moment.

On Kim Little coming off at half-time…

It was not pre-planned but we always go through scenarios. We were 2-0 up at half-time, we have played a lot of games, we have one more game ahead of us and we have midfielders who deserve to play so that was an in-game decision to change the six at half-time. Kyra is a really good footballer, she is a great player, I am happy she got to contribute and I am happy with the other players coming on as well. I want to highlight all the players in the squad, it is not only about the players starting.

On having greater centrality in the goals today…

We want to find variety in how we attack and recognising better when we are wide, how many do they invest? Where are the spaces? Where are the new spaces for us? We try to play around with that and the players recognise that really well today.

On being ahead at half-time a lot recently…

I don’t know what the players say in the huddle but we talked the last couple of games at half-time about how this is good for us we are leading, but we can expect the opposition to come out and do something different because they are not happy with how the game is going. So we try to prepare them for the scenarios and I think the start of the second half we struggled a bit, that was probably our weakest phase of the game so that is something we will look at. Otherwise that is something we are doing really well.

On the pass from Mariona for Blackstenius’ goal…

She is fantastic constantly, the way she trains the way she plays, she is a super intelligent footballer. She has technical ability and on top of that she works really hard, she is a great player to have in the squad. The pass was fantastic, I agree with you.

Unused: 1.Zinsberger, 5.L.Codina, 17.Hurtig, 26.Wienroither.

Arsenal: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Little, Wälti; Foord, Maanum, Mariona; Russo

Substitutes: Zinsberger, Wubben-Moy, Codina, Mead, Kafaji, Hurtig, Blackstenius, Wienroither, Cooney-Cross

Arsenal have won back to back games in the WSL for the first time this season, beating Tottenham 3-0 at the Toilet Bowl (because Tottenham get battered everywhere they go, even when they’re home).

Renée Slegers made one change to the team that beat Juventus midweek, with Mariona returning to the starting lineup. Beth Mead dropped to the bench.

First Half

Arsenal got off to the perfect start, with Alessia Russo giving the Gunners the lead after 65 seconds. Russo knocked back a long ball to Maanum, who passed back to Mariona. Mariona’s pass deflected kindly into Russo’s path, and her first time left footed shot flew into the net. 0-1.

Arsenal were monopolising the ball, and could’ve added a second before fifteen minutes. Russo took McCabe’s throw on the byline, turned away from Buhler, and cutback into the middle for Foord, whose shot was blocked by Nilden.

Arsenal’s dominance would pay off on 22 minutes. After a period of passive possession, Williamson sharply passed Maanum, who flicked the ball back to Little. She continued her run, and Little slipped the pass to her, and from the top of penalty area, Maanum passed her shot beyond Spencer into the bottom corner. 0-2.

McCabe won the ball back after Mariona got nutmegged, getting first to the pass and continuing on to win a corner. From the corner, Maanum’s delivery was headed across goal by Russo and Foord’s shot was blocked by her compatriot Clare Hunt.

Arsenal almost got into a spot of bother when Raso pressed Van Domselaar, but the keeper was able to get rid of the ball in time, and Wälti cleaned up after Tottenham won possession.

Tottenham, though, would have a chance. Little lost the ball, and Spence played into England as Tottenham countered. England shot from the edge of the box, and Van Domselaar made an impressive one-handed save.

Tottenham won a free kick on the stroke of half time, and the delivery looked for Beth England, but Leah Williamson headed behind for a corner. From the corner, Nilden shot well over the bar.

Second Half

Renée Slegers made a substitution at half time, with Kyra Cooney-Cross replacing Kim Little.

With the next goal crucial, the half started off quite bitty. Tottenham upped their own intensity level, and resorted to stopping Arsenal by fouls. Clare Hunt was booked in the 51st minute after pulling back Caitlin Foord. From the free kick, the ball was rolled to McCabe, who shot straight at Spencer.

Arsenal had a long spell of possession on the hour mark, working the ball back to front before Mariona set Russo away down the left of the penalty box. Russo crossed, and Foord, under pressure from Nilden, shot wide.

Arsenal made a double substitution on 64 minutes as Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius replaced Caitlin Foord and Alessia Russo.

Blackstenius’ first touch was a shot. McCabe won the ball back from Spence on the byline, and cutback for Blackstenius, whose shot went over the bar.

A minute later, Blackstenius’ second touch would seal the points. Fox played into Maanum. With acres of space, Maanum was able to play to Mariona, whose clever and soft pass sent Blackstenius through on goal, and she made no mistake. 0-3.

On 79 minutes, Rosa Kafaji replaced Mariona.

On 85 minutes, Lotte Wubben-Moy replaced Katie McCabe, with Steph Catley going to left back.

Nonsensical PGMOL refereeing meant Steph Catley was booked for taking too long on a throw-in in the 90th minute.

In the final minute, Maanum drove inside, as Arsenal looked for a fourth goal, but her shot went well over the bar.