Pre-Match Report

Women: Chelsea v Arsenal - The Brief

Arsenal Women celebrate

Joe Montemurro’s side will be hoping to maintain their place at the top of the Women’s Super League when they travel to Kingsmeadow to face Chelsea on Sunday.

THE STORY SO FAR 

We head into this fixture having won each of our opening five games of the season so far, scoring 28 goals along the way. This includes three wins in the WSL and two victories in the Continental Tyres Cup. 

In our most recent WSL outing - a 4-3 win over West Ham - we managed to fall behind twice, but thanks to an almost perfect second-half performance and Danielle van de Donk’s hat-trick, we came away with all three points.

At this moment in time Montemurro’s side occupy four of the five top goalscorer spots in the WSL, averaging 70 per cent possession over the course of the season so far - more than any other side in the division.

THE OPPOSITION 

Chelsea are yet to taste defeat in the WSL this season, but they’ve struggled to find their feet in the final third.

Emma Hayes’ side were held to three consecutive 0-0 draws in the league, before finally opening their account against Brighton & Hove Albion in a comfortable 2-0 victory at Kingsmeadow.

However, we’ve got to be wary of England international Fran Kirby, who’s scored in each of her last four outings for club and country. She also cemented her place in Chelsea history last week as their first player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

Fran Kirby

THE MANAGER’S NOTES

“They’re a powerful team and they have world class players all around the pitch,” Montemurro told Arsenal.com

“I think they’re a team that have strengths everywhere, so we need to show respect. I’ve got some ideas on how we can unlock them and hopefully we go about it the right way.

“We need to be level-headed about it because it’s a league game, it’s three points and we need to make sure that we understand we’re playing away from home and Chelsea are the best team in England at the moment. 

“They won the league and we need to show a level of respect, but we need to make sure we’re prepared to play our football and we’re there to give the game the quality it needs. It’s a big game and it’s a great spectacle for the league.”

FOLLOW THE ACTION

The game will take place at Kingsmeadow with kick-off at 2pm (UK time) - and you can get live updates by following us at @ArsenalWFC

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