UWCL Preview: Arsenal v Juventus Women

Another consequential night in the UEFA Women's Champions League awaits our Gunners at Emirates Stadium this evening.

Having inflicted a heavy loss on Juventus just last week, we now host the Italian side in the capital for a fixture that could determine the two teams' fates in Europe for another year.

LAST TIME OUT

We got the best of the Italian side on their own turf last week, scoring four times with four different goalscorers. Frida Maanum opened the scoring with a tap-in just before half-time, completing a slick team move.

It took us until the 74th minute to double our advantage through Stina Blackstenius' blasted strike. Mariona Caldentey and Caitlin Foord then joined the goal action to cap off a composed victory on the road.

In the week that's followed, we've only consolidated our strong form in both boxes, bagging another clean sheet and hitting three past Spurs in last weekend's north London derby.

STATE OF PLAY

Mariona Caldentey and Lina Hurtig celebrate

Our Gunners could book a place in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals this evening with a win over Juventus in north London. This is also contingent on Bayern Munich avoiding a loss to Valerenga in the other group fixture. This scenario would prevent the Italian side from reaching the next round of the tournament.

Tonight's match is the last in the November block of fixtures before our players head off to their respective national teams. The Arsenal are back in action against Aston Villa on December 8. Tickets are still available for this WSL tie.

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Slegers on Juventus: "It was a hard game for us to play. It was 1-0 for a long time, we scored three late goals so they got a chance early in the game. So I don't think there's any sign of complacency amongst us. We know how hard it was, and in the end, we got a big result. But it took us so much to get there, both physically and psychologically.

"They know us very well now, and we know them very well. I think it’s a guessing game of what they will tweak and what they will do differently. From a coaching perspective, it’s fun because you have one performance and you play against the exact same opponent and the challenge you have in front of you is to try to do better."

Every word of Renee and Emily's Juventus presser

Canzi on us: “We’re very keen to get out there and play this game, it’s a game with a lot of meaning for us, not least that we want to show that we are not who we showed ourselves to be a week ago. We know the importance of this game, we know our ability, and we know how to hurt our opponents.

“Compared to last week, we’ll need to be more clinical when chances arise. We’ll have to stay in the game for as long as we can, despite Arsenal’s strength. Of course, we spoke after the game at home and we know we can do better. One positive that comes from things not going well is that you can spot mistakes easily and learn where you need to improve.

TEAM NEWS

There was no squad fitness update at Slegers' pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

For Saturday's match against Tottenham Hotspur, our interim head coach had a fully fit squad to choose from, with the exception of Amanda Ilestedt (maternity leave) and Victoria Pelova (recovering from an ACL injury).