Chelsea v Arsenal Women is “going to be a tough battle.” as Gunners look to upset WSL leaders | OneFootball

Looking at the WSL fixtures for this weekend, one stands out above the rest: Chelsea versus Arsenal Women. The Blues host our Gunner women at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. Under Renee Slegers, our Gunners have picked up some impressive wins since mid-October. They’ve beaten noisy neighbors Tottenham Hotspur, dominated Italian powerhouse Juventus (both home and away), and even managed a win over German heavyweights Bayern Munich.

Even so, one could argue that Chelsea will be the toughest test for our Gunners since the girls kicked off their unbeaten run post-Jonas Eidevall.

Certainly, some rivals are waiting for Arsenal to lose their 12-game unbeaten streak, and a clash against WSL defending champs Chelsea is one they imagine could make it happen.

While Chelsea come into this game unbeaten in their league campaign, they know that to expose Arsenal, they will have to be at their absolute best.

Speaking ahead of the London derby, Chelsea’s Ashley Lawrence suggests Chelsea and Arsenal are not far off in terms of level, so the small margins will make the difference in this physical and high-level contest. She implies that both teams will have to be at their best mentally and physically. Though she expects plenty of action, she suggests this could be a tight contest with each moment counting.

“I would say that it’s going to be a tough battle. When we look at the last time we played them, it was a close scoring result. But that just shows, again, on paper, you have the two teams and we’re pretty on par in terms of our level. It really comes down to the small details of who’s going to come away with the victory,” said the Canadian defender.

“We know that, and we know we have to come in with our best version of every player, mentally and physically, because it really is the small margins that will make the difference. So yeah, I’m expecting a very physical game, but high level, technically. I feel like there’s going to be a lot of goals or maybe not a lot. It’s really one or the other, but it’s going to be a lot of action, a lot of goal-scoring opportunities for the fans. It’s going to be good. And of course, for us, we want to go into it to get the result.”

Ashley Lawrence Chelsea

The last time our girls played Chelsea, the game ended 2-1. We started off badly, conceding 2 goals by the 16th minute. We grew into the game, scoring before halftime. We could have pulled off a comeback win, but that wasn’t our day. Either way, Sunday could be our day, if we stay alert, to counter anything Chelsea throws our way.

Ultimately, it can’t be overemphasized how an Arsenal win would breathe new life into our Gunner women’s title ambitions, and make the WSL title race a lot more interesting for everyone..

What do you think Gooners? Are you ready for our Gunners to stamp all over The Blues at Stamford Bridge?

Michelle M

Follow JustArsenal’s Gooner Women on Just Gooner Women on Twitter for regular updates on the Arsenal Womens Team!

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