Arsenal vs Chelsea Preview
Arsenal vs Chelsea Preview
Chelsea Have Never Won At The Emirates, If They Do So Tomorrow, The Title Race Will Be All But Over Before Christmas.
Boiling Point
Following a rocky start to the season, Arsenal Women have won eight consecutive games in all competitions. That run started with a last-gasp victory at Emirates Stadium against Aston Villa. Already knocked out of the Champions League before taking just one point from their opening two games, this felt like a must win game for the gunners at the time, with the fanbase threatening to turn on manager Jonas Eidevall – even if the Swede had at the time just penned a new deal at the club. Two months later, Arsenal return to the Emirates for the first time since that dramatic 2-1 victory, and once again, the pressure is on.
This may seem unusual given that Arsenal are currently enjoying a two-month winning streak, but that is the nature of the beast when it comes to the WSL. Manchester United only dropped ten points last seasons (two draws, two defeats); it cost them the title. Given that Arsenal dropped half of this amount of points within their first two league games of the season, it was imperative that they took maximum points in their subsequent six games. To their credit, they have (just about) done this.
Still, it is worth remembering that no team that has ever won the WSL after losing more than two games. A second defeat of the season would effectively require Arsenal to overturn a seven point deficit to Chelsea thanks to having a vastly inferior goal difference. This isn't quite a must-win game, then, but it certainly falls into the category of must-not-lose.
Did Someone Say Succession Plan?
Beating Manchester City in November was seen as a statement result, and Arsenal did it with a midfield double-pivot of Kim Little and Lia Wälti. Since then, neither player has started a WSL game, with Kyra Cooney Cross and Victoria Pelova excelling in the centre of the park. When Arsenal produced a 45-minute blitz against Leicester to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 6-2 win, it was Pelova who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, providing a goal and two assists in a player-of-the-match performance.
A couple of weeks later, it was deadline-day signing Cooney Cross' turn to catch the eye, in the 3-0 win against West Ham, she registered two assists and displayed the passing range and physicality that had made her so coveted by clubs around Europe. At the start of the season, it would've been easy to view a Pelova x Cooney-Cross pivot as a midfield for the future, with a pairing of Little and Wälti a non-negotiable selection for a season-defining game against Chelsea. Things change quickly in football though, and it is tempting to say that for Arsenal, the future is now - Cooney Cross and Pelova holding down the midfield for a title-tussle with the old enemy would certainly feel like a symbolic changing of the guard.
With increased depth this season, Arsenal now have something of a swiss-army knife of a squad. Eidevall has different profiles of players at his disposal across various positions, and the centre of midfield is no exception. Little and Wälti offer control and stability; Pelova and Cooney-Cross are more willing to take risks. If Arsenal opt to take a more conservative approach against an ominously in-form Chelsea side, expect to see Little and Wälti – who unlike Pelova and Cooney-Cross, have both averaged over two tackles per 90 (Wälti leads the squad on this metric with 3.33 tackles p90); if a more proactive approach is the order of the day, then this may be a game for Pelova and Cooney Cross, who have excelled in making interceptions, shot creating-actions and take-ons.
Of course, it doesn't have to be quite as binary as that. Perhaps you sit Wälti alongside Pelova as something of a contingency plan to account for the Dutchwoman's high-risk style (she is the only one of Arsenal's quartet of central midfielders to average under 80% pass-completion). Whatever happens, it is a good problem for Eidevall to have when you consider the fact that Arsenal didn't have enough senior players left to fill a matchday squad by the end of last season.
"The Strongest Chelsea Team I've Seen"
Since Eidevall's very first game in charge of Arsenal in September 2021 – a 3-2 win at Emirates Stadium against Sunday's opponents, who were left somewhat rattled by matters usually left to the celebration police (in fairness, the Blues would have the last laugh that season, pipping Arsenal to the title by a single point), Eidevall vs Emma has become a staple rivalry of the WSL.
To draw a comparison with the men's game this rivalry is more Wenger vs Ferguson than Wenger vs Mourinho. Yes, there have been barbs from both sides, be it Hayes purring like a black cat, or Eidevall citing a classic line from the Arsene Wenger playbook by highlighting Chelsea's financial muscle, but beyond the competitive bluster, this is a rivalry underscored by mutual respect. Appearing as a guest on the Wrighty's House podcast this week, Eidevall spoke warmly of his opposite number "I love speaking to Emma… I learn things every time I speak to her, I have massive respect for her and what she's accomplished." Hayes has also spoken in the past of how she enjoys the rivalry.
While we're unlikely to see the Swede sink to his knees in celebration for a second time, pulling off a win on Sunday would represent a monumental result against a Chelsea side that, in his view, are at the peak of their powers. Speaking after the win against West Ham, he said: "This may be the strongest Chelsea I have seen since I have been in the WSL."
It doesn't take a tactical deep-dive to tell you that Chelsea are a formidable outfit. Looking to become just the second team in the history of top-flight English football - men's or women's - to win the title for a fifth consecutive season (Arsenal Women, of course, were the first, winning nine in a row), they have made a flying start to their campaign, winning seven out of eight games. The only blemish on their record was a draw away to Manchester City at the Joie Stadium – where they were soundly beaten last season, though City did finish the game with nine players on the pitch this time around.
Following on from what was a breakout season for both club and country, Lauren James has gone supernova in 23/24. With six goals in six starts this season, she has already bettered her final goals tally from the entirety of last season. How she performs at the Emirates will be a litmus test for how she has progressed as a player in recent months. She has historically struggled against the club she left as a teenager. In last season's Conti Cup final, she endured a miserable afternoon as Arsenal repeatedly targeted Chelsea's right-back area, thanks in no small part to a lack of application on James's part to track back. Similarly, Arsenal players were repeatably able to isolate Niamh Charles and the exploit space in behind the Chelsea full-back in last season's 1-1 draw at the Emirates, with a chasm opening up at times between full-back and winger, as the screenshots below show.
We may well see James and Charles line up on the same flank as each other again at the Emirates, only this time, the partnership should be mirrored on the left-hand-side as opposed to the right. While Charles was identified as a clear weak-link at right-back in this fixture in January, she has been the surprise star of Chelsea's season so far, operating as a flying left-wing-back. Whether it is Beth Mead or Cloé Lacasse lining up on the right for Arsenal on Sunday, the Chelsea left-back area will surely be one they will look to exploit. Having said this, a formidable one vs one defender in Jess Carter will likely line up at left-centre-back to plug any gaps that do arise.
Things can change very quickly in the WSL. Head-to-head matchups carry enough weight to decide the direction of the league title; had Manchester United managed to pick up two points out of six as opposed to zero in their two games against Chelsea last season, they would have won the title with a game to spare instead of falling two points short.
Chelsea have never won at the Emirates. If that record falls on Sunday, it will do so in tandem with Arsenal's title hopes.