by Ruby Joanne (6/12/23).
Above: Victoria Pelova (21), Beth Mead, and Alessia Russo celebrate against Aston Villa earlier this season. They will be hoping for more good times against Chelsea on Sunday. Photo: Ben Phillips for Impetus.
As they went into the international break, Arsenal racked up their sixth straight WSL win with a 3-0 victory over West Ham United.
Further signs of Jonas Eidevall side’s growth as the campaign has gone on can be seen with the stats that Manuela Zinsberger kept a second successive clean sheet in a row with the additional boost of Beth Mead’s brace. This was a milestone that the club’s fans have been waiting for since November last year after Mead suffered an ACL injury. She also joins Vivianne Miedema in becoming the second Arsenal player to reach 100 involvements (57 goals, 43 assists) in the WSL.
The first game after this international break, on Sunday, brings a thrilling top-of-the-table clash against Chelsea at the Emirates. More than 50,000 tickets have been sold and the club are looking to set a record attendance in the WSL.
Arsenal are currently second in the league with nineteen points, just behind Chelsea who are three points ahead. Both sides go into the game having won at least their last five games, making this upcoming fixture crucial. With Mead and Miedema back from injury, Eideval will have a tricky decision in naming which one of Arsenal’s forwards will be in the starting lineup.
The North London side’s summer signings have made a brilliant impact in recent games, with all three of Amanda Ilestedt, Cloe Lacasse, and Alessia Russo getting their names on the scoresheet. Kyra Cooney-Cross earned her first WSL start in the game that arguably marked Arsenal’s most impressive moment so far this season. Their second-half performance against Leicester City.
The Gunners found themselves 2-0 down at half-time, but fans only had to wait four minutes into the second half until Lacasse sparked their comeback. Russo, Foord, Pelova, Blackstenius. and Hurtig soon followed leaving the final score at 6-2. Cooney-Cross went into the international break on the back of a hugely influential performance for the club.
Both sides are in top form – something has to give on Sunday. It’s going to be some spectacle.
This is the second in our three-part preview of Sunday’s Arsenal v Chelsea game in the WSL.
To read the first part, Maisie McNulty’s analysis of Chelsea’s season to date, click on this link: https://impetusfootball.org/2023/12/05/chelsea-nothing-stops-them-so-far/
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