Preview: Arsenal Women v Bristol City Women

We're finally back from the international break and heading into the final block of Barclays Women’s Super League matches, with Bristol City next up for our Gunners.

The Meadow Park fixture, which kicks off at 6.45pm (UK), marks our side’s first game back since lifting the Conti Cup trophy at Molineux on Easter Sunday.

Last time around

We’ve faced the Robins twice already this season, coming up victorious on both occasions.

Last time around at Meadow Park, Frida Maanum opened the scoring with a beautifully clipped strike that finished off a glorious team move.

Lotte Wubben-Moy bagged her first goal of the season that evening to make it 2-0, but Bristol’s Sille Struck pulled a goal back for the visitors.

Stina Blackstenius was there to reinstate our two-goal cushion in stoppage time, completing the solid Conti Cup victory.

On the reverse WSL fixture, two very special Katie McCabe strikes were enough to secure us the three points at Ashton Gate.

Facts and stats

We've won our last seven Women's Super League games against Bristol City, scoring four or more goals in five of those victories. Our biggest victory in WSL history came against the Robins in 2019 - an 11-1 demolition at Meadow Park which included a double hat-trick from Vivianne Miedema
Katie McCabe won her 100th Women’s Super League match last time around, with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa. She's only the fourth player to win more than 100 games in the competition for a single club, alongside two Gunners (Jordan Nobbs, 112 and Kim Little, 103) and Millie Bright (110 with Chelsea)
Our Gunners have won each of the last seven home matches in the league, scoring at least twice in six of these wins. The last time we had a longer winning run at home was between February 2019 and January 2020 with 10 consecutive victories - our longest run in the WSL
Bristol City's Amalie Thestrup has scored nine goals in the WSL this season. Only City's Khadija Shaw (19), Chelsea's Lauren James (13) and Brighton's Elisabeth Terland (12) have scored more
The Robins have only picked up six points from a possible 51 so far this season, six fewer than any other team. The side are currently averaging 0.35 points per game this season
We’ve only conceded more than one goal in four WSL fixtures this season, with all four of those games coming on the road. The last time we conceded more than one goal on home soil was the last game of the 2022/23 season against Aston Villa

What the managers say

Eidevall on Bristol: "They have been a very, very competitive side. They ask a lot of different tactical questions for you as a side. They've had a long time to prep for this game.

"I think it might be three weeks now without a game, so we need to take that into consideration as well. We know we need to play at our very best in order to be able to win the game."

Smith on us: "Arsenal are a good team. They're great to watch, they move the ball so well. Their style and identity can be picked out.

"We know we're going to spend long periods of the game without the ball. We have to be aware of their threats. I'm hoping we're staying in the game for longer which allows us to build."

Team news

Frida Maanum lines up at the Conti Cup final

In his pre-match press conference, Jonas Eidevall provided an update on Frida Maanum after the incident at the Conti Cup final.

"Everything is looking good and that's the most important thing. She's on a graduated, monitored protocol now to return to play.

"She will not be available for selection on Sunday but after that, if everything goes as planned, it looks promising for her to be available to play again."

Elsewhere, Eidevall confirmed that Vivianne Miedema would not be available for the Bristol City match. Lia Walti, Amanda Ilestedt, Lina Hurtig, Teyah Goldie and Kaylan Marckese also miss out.