Following a 1-1 UEFA Women’s Champions League draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Thursday, Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers turned her attention to Sunday’s Women’s Super League fixture against London City Lionesses at Emirates Stadium.
- Arsenal aims to use home-pitch momentum at Emirates Stadium to secure three points after recent mixed results in north London.
Asked what she expects from the 4.30pm kick-off in the Women’s Super League, Renée Slegers told Arsenal FC: “They’re a very good team. Of course, a lot of new players in and a lot of quality. They’ve started the league really well, so I’m expecting a tough challenge. They’ve been lethal going forward, fast, so we’ll have to be really, really disciplined on the pitch.”
Slegers added: “Of course, we look forward to being back at the Emirates and impose ourselves and play the Arsenal way and then build on the performance we had in the Champions League on Thursday night.”
London City Lionesses earned promotion before the start of last season, prompting questions regarding how swiftly a newly assembled squad could adapt to the top tier.
“You’re always curious how quickly you can build a new team when there’s so much happening,” she told Arsenal FC. “So yes, quicker than maybe people expected. They look like a team, they look like they know what they’re doing on the pitch. So yeah, we’re really aware that we’re playing against a really good team on Sunday, but like I said, we want to impose ourselves.”
Last season’s fixtures against London City produced contrasting scorelines, starting with an early penalty conceded in a home encounter before Arsenal rallied.
“The first home game of the season, I remember we went down with a penalty and it was an early penalty for London City. We won that game 4-1, I believe, and they were very aggressive. They [wanted to play] every player on the pitch. We had to find solutions and we did that. So that was a great way to start the season for us at the Emirates,” Slegers recalled to Arsenal FC.
Reflecting on the subsequent return fixture, she added: “The away game was a difficult 2-0 result. We’re going to study those games and get the learnings from those games. At the same time, they’ve changed quite a lot and there’s new personnel on their team. It’s the here and now and we have changed as well. We look forward to the game.”
With anticipation building ahead of Sunday’s fixture at Emirates Stadium, Slegers emphasized the vital contribution of the club’s supporters.
Slegers told Arsenal FC that the supporters are huge, noting that the squad constantly appreciates the financial and time commitments fans make to attend matches, the vibrant atmosphere they generate, and the special matchday ambiance inside the Emirates, which would lack its true identity without them. She stressed that the team is fully committed to delivering an exceptional display and securing all three points.
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