Fresh from a famous victory in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, our Gunners travel to south London to take on Crystal Palace.
The Eagles are our final test ahead of the April international break, and with the side currently battling relegation from the WSL
LAST TIME AROUND
Our last performance against Crystal Palace was a thoroughly convincing one. Back in January, Leah Williamson opened the scoring after just six minutes, but it wasn't until the second half that the goals really started to fly.
Alessia Russo doubled our lead after the hour mark, with Beth Mead scoring on the counter four minutes later, before Mariona Caldentey's late brace capped off the resounding win at Meadow Park.
THE OPPOSITION
The newly promoted Crystal Palace have had a tough introduction to life in the WSL. Their two wins from a possible 17 have left them rock bottom of the league table, battling with a beleaguered Aston Villa to stay afloat.
The side's form had improved of late, with only narrow losses against Liverpool and Chelsea and a 3-1 win over relegation rivals, Villa. But a 3-0 defeat to Everton last time out will have dampened the Eagles' spirits as they enter the business end of the season.
FACTS AND STATS
- We have won 10 of our last 11 matches in the Barclays Women's Super League. In our last five victories, our squad has scored at least three goals - our longest run of scoring three goals or more since May 2022
- Victory this afternoon would make it six successive league wins for our Gunners, our best run since December 2023
- Crystal Palace picked up their first-ever WSL home win against Aston Villa two weekends ago. The Eagles have lost 71% of their 17 league games this season, with only Yeovil Town and Leicester City registering a worse record in their debut campaign
- We have not lost to a newly-promoted WSL side in 26 matches. That defeat came 11 years ago at the hands of Manchester City
- Katie McCabe has created more chances than any other WSL player this season with 44. Since the start of the 2019/20 season, we have a 74%-win rate in the 100 league games McCabe has started, versus the 65% in the 20 she hasn’t
- Crystal Palace have conceded the most goals from set-pieces this season, not including penalties. Our seven goals from set pieces this campaign are only trumped by Chelsea, with eight.
- With 25 goals, our Gunners have scored at least seven more WSL goals than any other team in 2025. Manchester United are the closest with 18. We racked up the total in the fewest number of games in a calendar year since Manchester City in 2021
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Slegers on Palace: "They are obviously fighting for points, so they will put everything on the line and they will do everything on Sunday. That's what we're preparing for.
"For us, it's important that we did really well last Wednesday. A lot of positives in the performance and I think we set ourselves some new standards. We want to live up to those standards again on Sunday, so it's mostly going to be about us and what we can deliver on Sunday."
Smerud on us: "We know they're a strong side, and they showed that again [on Wednesday]. But we also know them well, and we're looking forward to the challenge."
TEAM NEWS
In her pre-match press conference, Renée revealed that three of our squad will be unavailable for the Palace tie: "Lina Hurtig is not available; Laia Codina, we pushed her for the Madrid game, but some reactions, so she won't be available either, and Lotte Wubben-Moy is still out."
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Assistant referees: David Middleton and Hannah Gardner
Fourth official: Amy Fearn
HOW TO WATCH
All the action at the VBS Community Stadium kicks off at 2pm on Sunday. For those of you not making the journey across London, the match is available to watch live on the Barclays WSL YouTube channel.
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