Tonight, we play our final group game in the Women's Champions League and our final game of 2022 against FC Zurich.
Despite our narrow loss to Lyon last week, we secured our place in the knockout stages of the competition. Victory tonight at the Wefox Arena will ensure we go into the quarter-finals as group winners.
Last time around
We hosted the Swiss champions at the Emirates back in October and cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory. A wonder strike from Jordan Nobbs was quickly followed by Lina Hurtig's debut goal for us, following a superb piece of skill from Mana Iwabuchi down the right wing.
Inka Grings' side got a goal back in the second half through a moment of brilliance from Seraina Piubel but we responded less than two minutes later, with Hurtig bagging her second goal for the Gunners.
Since we last met
Zurich have yet to score a goal in the Champions League since that evening at the Emirates and remain bottom of Group C, behind Lyon and Juventus.
Domestically, it's a much brighter picture for the side who remain second in the Swiss Women's Super League after seven games unbeaten, closely pursuing Servette at the top. This will be the final game in charge for Inka Grings, who has been newly appointed as the Swiss Women's National Team head coach.
Team news
Kim Little and Lina Hurtig, who both recently regained match fitness following injuries, are in the travelling squad and are likely to be involved on matchday.
In serious news, Vivianne Miedema’s injury sustained last week against Lyon has now been confirmed as a ruptured ACL. Beth Mead also remains on the sidelines for the foreseeable with the same injury.
What the managers say
Eidevall on Zurich: “[Zurich's] results maybe tell another story than their performances. I think we’ve seen, both against Lyon and Juventus, that they've created some really, really good opportunities in those games.
“They’re a tactically flexible team and an opponent we have a lot of respect for, especially here at their home ground. We need to make a strong performance in order to get the result we want.”
Grings on us: "We want to leave with our heads raised tomorrow. Our goal is to leave our hearts on the pitch and say goodbye to the great audience. I think that with our European campaign, regardless of the results, we can be very proud of ourselves. We have been able to keep up with many games. This is an experience value that represents great added value for all of us."
As it stands in Group C
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | Lyon | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Juventus | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 4 | FC Zurich | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 17 | -16 | 0 |
How to watch
We kick off in Zurich at the Wefox Arena at 5.45pm (UK time).
All UWCL fixtures are free to stream on DAZN's Youtube channel wherever you are in the world.
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