Preview: Arsenal v Chelsea Women

Barclays Women’s Super League football returns to Emirates Stadium as we host Chelsea.

Both sides are unbeaten in the league ahead of Saturday’s 1.45pm kick-off, but Sonia Bompastor’s side have played one game fewer.

LAST CHANCE TICKETS

LAST TIME WE MET

Gooners who travelled to Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton will have fond memories of our previous encounter with the Blues as we lifted the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup trophy after a 1-0 win.

It took until the 116th minute for us to make the breakthrough, but Stina Blackstenius’ huge goal in front of a stand full of red and white was enough to decide the final.

THE OPPOSITION

There was always going to be a period of adjustment following the departure of Emma Hayes, but new head coach Sonia Bompastor has settled in quickly, leading the side to a 1-0 win at home to Aston Villa and a 7-0 victory away to Crystal Palace in the WSL.

A third WSL match against Manchester United was postponed due to player welfare concerns.

On Tuesday, Chelsea beat Real Madrid 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Women’s Champions League thanks to goals from Sjoeke Nusken, Guro Reiten and Mayra Ramirez.

FACTS AND STATS

We are unbeaten in our last four home meetings with Chelsea in the WSL (W2 D2) but haven’t won back-to-back such games against the Blues since June 2013 (3 in a row), something we could do following a 4-1 victory in this fixture last season.

Jonas Eidevall and Sonia Bompastor have met twice previously with those meetings coming in the 2022/23 UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage; we beat Bompastor’s Lyon 5-1 away from home – the biggest defeat of her managerial career – before losing 1-0 at home.

Only Toni Duggan (11) has scored more WSL goals against Chelsea than Beth Mead (9), who has netted in each of her last four home appearances against the Blues in the top-flight (5 goals), putting us a goal ahead in three of those matches.

Chelsea are aiming to win their opening three games in a Women’s Super League campaign for the fourth time after also doing so in 2015, 2016 and 2017/18 – we are the last reigning WSL champions to start with a perfect three from three record in 2019/20.

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Eidevall: “Every game that is ahead of us is a must-win game. That needs to be the mentality that we have. Nothing else should please us. We should always go out to try to win football matches.

"Obviously they haven’t played so many games. It’s not been a lot of competitive games to see them play this season, but the games that they have played, you can see that she’s set a clear trademark on how they’re playing, both in and out of possession. I think they look like a really good football team, so it’s going to be a match between two really good football teams and I look forward to that challenge.

Bompastor: “It’s a big game, a derby. I watched most of their games with my staff. They have a really good squad with a lot of quality and talent.

“We’re expecting to have a tough game, especially at Emirates Stadium, but we’re prepared for that.”

TEAM NEWS

Jonas Eidevall confirmed that there were no fresh injury concerns following Wednesday's game against Bayern Munich. "We have really good availability for the game," he said in his pre-match press conference.

"Laura Wienroither is still out and is going to be out for a couple more weeks but, apart from that, really good selection availability. Lina Hurtig is very, very close to being able to make to make the squad. I haven't made my final decision about the squad yet, but if she doesn't make this squad, then I think she has a very, very good possibility to make the squad next Wednesday, against Vålerenga."

MATCH OFFICIALS

Cheryl Foster has been appointed to take charge of Saturday's match. She has seen over three games so far this season across the UEFA Women's Championship qualifiers, Barclays Women's Championship and Barclays Women's Super League, most recently officiating Manchester United's 3-0 win over West Ham United in September.

She was also the referee for our 1-0 win over Chelsea in the final of the Conti Cup last season.

Referee: Cheryl Foster
Assistant referees: Emily Carney and Sophie Dennington
Fourth official: Kirsty Dowle

HOW TO WATCH

For those unable to watch live in N5, the match will be shown on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website in the United Kingdom.

See below the full list of broadcasters confirmed for the rest of the world.