Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Women’s Super League clash between Arsenal Women and Manchester City Women, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Arsenal Women will kick off their Women’s Super League season with a mammoth clash against Manchester City Women at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners finished in third position last season, while Man City were squeezed out into second place by champions Chelsea.
Match preview
© Imago
After finishing in third place in the last two seasons, Arsenal will enter the 2024-25 WSL campaign with aspirations of winning their first league title since 2018-19.
In a bid to assemble a title-winning side, the Gunners have strengthened their squad with the additions of Daphne van Domselaar, Rosa Kafaji and Mariona Caldentey.
Jonas Eidevall‘s side have already been in competitive action this season, with the Gunners currently competing in the qualifying stages of the Women’s Champions League.
The Gunners successfully negotiated the first round with wins over Rangers and Rosenborg, but the second stage is proving to be a little trickier.
Arsenal fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in the away leg of their qualifying tie with Swedish side Hacken, leaving them with work to do in the return leg on Thursday.
Before they play host to Hacken, Arsenal will attempt to extend their unbeaten WSL run to seven matches in Sunday’s opener.
Meanwhile, Man City are still searching for their second league title after they fell agonisingly short in their bid to achieve WSL glory.
Gareth Taylor‘s side ultimately lost out to Chelsea on goal difference after two title protagonists finished level on 55 points.
While they would have been disappointed to miss out on the WSL title, Man City’s second-placed finish did at least secure them a spot in the second round of Women’s Champions League qualifying.
They kicked off their campaign with a successful midweek trip to France where they produced a free-scoring display to clinch a dominant 5-0 win over Paris FC.
Vivianne Miedema, who arrived from Arsenal over the summer, grabbed a goal on her Man City debut alongside a Jess Park brace and efforts from Mary Fowler and Chloe Kelly.
Man City will now turn their focus to league matters, and while they may have lost their previous meeting with Arsenal in May, they may be able to take confidence from the fact that they recorded a 1-0 win in their most recent away clash with the Gunners in February’s Women’s FA Cup clash.
Arsenal Women form (all competitions):
Manchester City Women form (all competitions):
© Imago
Arsenal midfielder Victoria Pelova is sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, while Steph Catley is set to miss a fourth straight game due to a muscle problem.
Leah Williamson was only available to feature as a substitute against Hacken, but Eidevall is confident that the defender will be ready to start against Man City.
Norway international Frida Maanum could be recalled to the starting lineup after she featured as a half-time substitute in midweek.
As for the visitors, Taylor has revealed that Jill Roord is ahead of schedule in her recovery from an ACL injury and could make her return to action in the coming weeks.
However, Man City are likely to be without summer addition Risa Shimizu for the majority of the season after the Japan international sustained an ACL injury at the Olympics.
Miedema is poised to start her first WSL game for Man City against the club that she left in the summer after seven years of service.
Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:
Zinsberger; Fox, Williamson, Codina, McCabe; Little, Cooney-Cross, Maanum; Mead, Caldentey, Russo
Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Yamashita; Casparij, Aleixandri, Greenwood, Ouahabi; Park, Hasegawa, Miedema; Fowler, Hemp, Shaw
We say: Arsenal Women 1-1 Manchester City Women
Arsenal and Man City will both be keen to begin the WSL season with a win, but with little to choose between the two top-quality squads, we think that they could cancel one another out and play out a score draw in Sunday’s WSL opener.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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