Arsenal v Juventus: The Brief

You’ll have the opportunity to see our summer recruits in action for the first time on Sunday, when Juventus travel to Meadow Park.

THE OPPOSITION

Juventus Women may have only been founded in July 2017, but already they’ve cemented their place at the top of women’s football in Italy.

They won Serie A during their first full season as a club, after defeating Brescia 5-4 in a dramatic title-winning penalty shoot-out. The two sides finished the season tied on 60 points, and as a result, a play-off final was required to decide the winner.

The Old Lady are currently managed by Rita Guarino, and they boast a number of the national team’s finest talents. In fact, seven Juventus playersrepresented Italy at the Women’s Euros in 2017.

Fans of the Women’s Super League should also keep an eye out for familiar faces in Eni Aluko and Lianne Sanderson, who recently joined the Italian giants. Aluko previously played for Chelsea and has faced us in each of our last six WSL seasons, while Sanderson was a product of our academy and made six appearances for the Gunners in 2015.

ONE TO WATCH

Danielle Van de Donk was an integral part of Joe Montemurro’s midfield last season, so if we hope to dominate possession against Juventus, she’ll have to be at her very best in the middle of the park.

Van de Donk has an exceptional first touch and passing range, which allows her to calm the side down at key moments and pick out a team-mate who’s found a pocket of space in the final third.