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2 months ago
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25 min: Sensational play by Maanum, teasing down the left and sending in a tantalising cross that is begging to be nodded home. Turner takes no chance for United and flicks it over her own crossbar.
23 min: Aoife Mannion shields well for United, a vital piece of defending to keep out McCabe.
22 min: Clinton is bemused as a throw-in decision goes against her and United. Lisa Naalsund has played a couple of lovely diagonal passes.
With almost 20 minutes on the clock it’s still really hard to call this one.
Arsenal have offered more quality in possession and have probably had the better chances through Russo, but United are being backed by a very healthy home crowd at Leigh Sports Village and have shown flashes of how dangerous they can be. They need Clinton to be more involved.
17 min: United have become a bit purposeless on the ball and Arsenal’s mobile and industrious front players are trying to take advantage. United look much better when they go more direct.
15 min: It’s quite mad that neither Toone nor Russo have scored a goal in the WSL yet this season.
That could well change today.
13 min: Russo is looking dangerous. She’s gone close again, working it onto her stronger right foot and sending it just over the bar, via a vital Millie Turner deflection. Two big chances for the England striker already.
11 min: Just as Charles says that, Arsenal are coming more into the game.
They’ve got a good free-kick position here, which McCabe sends into a great area but nobody can meet.
Arsenal fan Charles Antaki gets in touch on email with a prediction:
A loss unless Leah Williamson and Beth Mead recapture their best form – they were pretty poor in the England game (though not the only ones, to be sure). Williamson especially seems to have lost the sureness of her touch, which is a worry given the excellence of her passing, especially the incisive ones that open up chances. In the team as a whole, Mariona Caldentey sometimes looks a bit puzzled by the wastefulness of those around her; not a great start.
8 min: And it’s Russo who goes close for the visitors after smartly picking up a loose throw, tuning into an alarming amount of space and whizzing it just wide.
6 min: Toone lines up a shot from distance but she never really got hold of it. There are some boos for her old mate Alessia Russo, who left United for Arsenal of course.
4 min: A bit slicker and quicker from United and Gabby George wins a corner for his overlapping efforts down the left.
The kick is high and deep and Turner heads it off a defender for another corner, which … is well defended by Arsenal.
3 min: Arsenal have started slightly more confidently on the ball, with Caldentey trying to turn away from trouble a couple of times, albeit it’s been a slow start to the game with a succession of throw-ins.
KICK OFF
Here we go, here we go, here we go.
The two teams are out and we’re almost ready to rock.
Where’s your money? The draw looks favourite to me.
Toone, Russo, Mead, Williamson, Clinton, Le Tissier … there’s lots of Lionesses interest in the two teams today.
Renée Slegers isn’t keen on looking too far ahead as she speaks to the BBC before the game. “For me it’s only about this game here and now, I just wanna play the game against Manchester United.”
Classic interim speak.
Celin Bizet will be an interesting one to watch for United today. She’s been deployed at right-back at times this season but looks set to return to a more familiar forward-thinking role on the wing this afternoon. Her deliveries into the box and a telepathic understanding with Elisabeth Terland have been a big part of United’s strong start to the campaign.
If men’s football is more your bag, there are some good reads on the website about Arsenal and Manchester United’s struggles. I particularly enjoyed these two.
Here’s the Arsenal perspective on today’s game, with interim head coach Renée Slegers providing some much needed balance and momentum after a shaky start to the campaign.
Manchester United have conceded only just goal in the WSL this season – by far the best defensive record in the division. And today’s game will be head coach Marc Skinner’s 100th game in charge of United.
“I feel there’s been a lot of growth in that time,” he said. “I’m really proud to represent Manchester United. I want to be successful here for another 100 games and to do that we’ve got to win games, so although it’s a fantastic milestone for me personally, I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been.
“We’ve started the season fantastically well but we’re going to face a team that could either be wounded and really want to show that, or a team that we could hopefully try and take advantage of, but they’re going to be very difficult to play against.”
Team news
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce; Turner, Le Tissier, Mannion, George; Naaslund, Janssen, Clinton; Toone, Bizet, Terland.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Riviere, Awujo, Ladd, Miyazawa, Watson, Geyse, Malard, Williams
Arsenal: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, Mariona; Little, McCabe, Maanum; Walti, Foord, Russo.
Subs: Zinsberger, Codina, Reid, Kuhl, Cooney-Cross, Mead, Kafaji, Hurtig, Blackstenius
Preamble
If Arsenal surprised a few people because of their slow start to this WSL season, then Manchester United have been surprise packages for all the right reasons this term. So there’s no shortage of talking points as the two lock horns at Leigh Sports Village in today’s early kick-off.
The visitors are looking for a third win from three games under interim head coach, Renée Slegers, who by all accounts has brought “new energy” to Arsenal after the departure of Jonas Eidevall. United, meanwhile, are unbeaten, albeit having played just four games to the Gunners’ five; they do arguably have one of the league’s most in-form and exciting players in England’s Grace Clinton, as well as on-song striker Elisabeth Terland.
It’s all set up for a cracking contest, which kicks off at 12.30pm UK time. We’ll run through the confirmed lineups in the next post. Stay tuned.
