Match Preview: Arsenal V Liverpool

Liverpool travel to North London this weekend to face Arsenal for Matchday 17 of the Barclays Women’s Super League. This fixture will take place at 17:30pm and will be broadcasted on Sky Sports. The Gunners will be looking to secure their three points to close the gap between themselves and Chelsea, who are currently top.

Last time out:

In recent weeks, Liverpool took on Arsenal in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Quarter-Final. This game ended in a 1 – 0 win for The Reds to see them in the final four of The FA Cup. An outstanding strike from Sophie Roman Haug saw the ball hit the post. Unfortunately, Arsenal’s Daphne Van Domselaar was unable to keep the ball out of the net and the goal stood as an own goal for The Gunners.

What the managers have to say about this fixture:

Renée Slegers was asked about what the team have learnt since The Gunners FA Cup loss to Liverpool: “They [Liverpool] work very hard in the way they play. I think against all opposition you see opportunities and all teams have threats… and we [Arsenal] see opportunities for ourselves.”

During Arsenal’s previous fixture, against Real Madrid, The Gunners came away from Spain with a 2 – 0 loss. The main subject of this match was the condition of the pitch. When Slegers was asked about the condition of the pitch, she said: “Of course we [Arsenal] like to play on a good surface, I think every team does. It makes football a little bit easier. Then it’s always going to be that both teams compete on the same surface.”

Liverpool’s Interim Head Coach, Amber Whiteley, was asked about their recent Barclays Women’s Super League visit to Anfield to host Manchester United in a 3 – 1 win: “I thought the performance was really good on Friday night at Anfield… but we’re definitely in the right place, confidence wise. And we’re going to this Arsenal game in a good spot, as the hard work has continued. We’re ready for an improved Arsenal from when we met in the FA Cup, and we’ve got to raise our game.”

Liverpool recently announced the contract extension of defender, Jenna Clark. When asked how she felt about working under Amber Whiteley, she said; “It’s been really good, it’s been really fresh. I think obviously it’s not been long, but we’ve had good results so we’re looking to keep that going for as long as we can…”

Team News:

Arsenal will see the return of their starting goalkeeper this season, Daphne Van Domselaar as she faced concussion protocols after suffering a concussion in Arsenal’s last FA Cup meeting with Liverpool.

Unfortunately, Arsenal’s player of the season during the 23/24 campaign, Lotte Wubben-Moy will be unavailable for this fixture. Spanish Defender, Laia Codina was described as a “question mark” by Renée Slegers after revealing she has had minor issues.

Liverpool have confirmed that Grace Fisk, Gemma Bonner, Ceri Holland and Leanne Kiernan are all available for this fixture after falling ill before their match against Manchester United.