Tonight’s clash with defending champions Olympique Lyonnais at the Emirates Stadium could secure our place in the standings of the Women’s League Cup for the second consecutive season.
As long as we avoid defeat by a five-goal margin, we hold our place in the quarter-finals before we even meet FC Zurich next week. A draw or win tonight will also mean we head into the top tier of the group winners.
Last time around
In a game that already feels destined for the history books, our Gunners soared to a 5-1 win last time, ousting the defending champions. A brace each from Beth Mead and Caitlin Foord, plus a goal from the electric Frida Maan, meant the French hosts had conceded the most goals ever on their home soil.
Speaking in the previous program, Jonas Eidevall reflected on that first leg: “The night was perfect. What happened was what we wanted to achieve, we marked the exact moments in the game and everything came together. All the stars aligned on that night. But for that very reason, it is so important it is to remain humble that one outcome does not mean that these are the sixty lines we feel we are owed.
“It happened one night. We are so grateful that we were a part of that game and through it we created history. Now we need to work hard to get a result in this match.”
When he finally met
Lyons were certainly repulsed by their defeat to us in October. The French twice dispatched FC Zurich and drew with Juventus to finish in second place in Group C. The Italian champions are hot on the heels, however, and look set to be beaten in the decider when the two teams meet next week.
Domestically, Lyon have shown their usual dominance and before their clash with PSG at the weekend, they were enjoying an unbeaten run of 10 games this season. However, Paris Saint-Germain scored this winner from Kadidatou Diani in the last minute, allowing the outfit to replace Paris Saint-Germain in first place in Division 1 Women.
Team news
Our team is slowly but surely returning to full strength and pilot Kim Little will be on the team at Lyons, according to Lina Hurtig. The pair recently returned to form following injuries that sidelined them for several weeks.
Teyah Goldie continues to recover her ACL but is out for selection, and Beth Mead is sidelined for the foreseeable future with an ACL injury sustained against Manchester United in November.
What the managers say
Eidevall in Lyons; “It is difficult to predict how Lyon will look (for the game in October), this is their business. I will work on how Arsenal will look but we see a Lyon team that had a lot of strong games.
“From a goal-scoring point of view, they were the better team against PSG even though they lost. We know that they are the best opponent and we need to have a lot of respect.”
Our bompastor; “We want to show a better face than we did in the first leg. We don’t think about the level of the team. Since then, our efforts and results have been better, but we expect a difficult match.”
As it stands in Group C
| P | W | Mr | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Armory | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 |
| 2 | Lyon | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 7 |
| 3 | Juventus | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | -1 | 5 |
| 4 | FC Zurich | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | -11 | 0 |
How to watch
We kick off at the Emirates Stadium at 8pm (UK time) and tickets are still available!
All UWCL fixtures can be streamed DAZN’s YouTube channel wherever you are in the world.
Copyright 2023 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use evidence from this article is granted under appropriate credit to www.arsenal.com as the source.