THE LOWDOWN

Arsenal travel to Florence for their first Champions League tie in five and a half years. Fiorentina finished second in Série A last season, given Arsenal were unseeded in the draw, they will be grateful to have avoided European heavyweights Wolfsburg and Lyon. However, Fiorentina are very far from the worse team in the seeded side of the draw.

For the Gunners, the Champions League is a new experience- Joe Montemurro even told me last month ‘they are the favourites, they have been there before and we haven’t.’ I suspect Joe was being slightly cute, later in the same interview he said, ‘The plan is not to contain in Florence and try to win here, the plan is to try and win in Florence and come back here and try to win again.’ Arsenal are favourites, but not absolutely emphatically so.

The Fiorentina match marks the midway point of a triumvirate of three games; Arsenal began the season with a 2-1 home win against West Ham, now they travel to Italy before playing a mouthwatering WSL encounter away at Manchester United on Monday evening. That means Montemurro will look to shuffle his pack again on Thursday.

The match also means a quick reunion with Danish centre-half Janni Arnth, who joined the Florentine club last month. The tie also pits Joe Montemurro against one of his former players from his Melbourne days Lisa de Vanna- Lisa has never made her distaste for Montemurro a secret though she is sketchy on the reasons for the fallout.

Truth. Will. Always. Win

Unfortunately liars get their turns first!!

???? https://t.co/cJiQcUa91w — Lisa De Vanna (@lisadevanna11) December 26, 2018

TEAM NEWS

Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema should return after being rested for the victory over West Ham on Sunday due to a tight hamstring. Joe Montemurro told reporters that Miedema was spared because, “we want her 100% fit not 90%.” Viv trained on Saturday and could have played the West Ham game at a push.

Katrine Veje has travelled with the squad after missing Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, while Danielle Carter (knee), Lia Walti (knee) and Tabea Kemme (knee) will all miss out. Montemurro may also look to bring in the likes of Louise Quinn and Emma Mitchell who started on the bench on Sunday, while Jordan Nobbs will continue her rehabilitation from the subs bench.

LAST TIME OUT

The teams have never played one another before. The Gunners last Champions League tie saw them comfortably beaten on aggregate by Birmingham City at a transitional time for the club with Shelley Kerr having just taken the reins from Vic Akers. Fiorentina don’t begin their domestic season until this weekend with a local derby against Florentia.

THE OPPOSITION

Fiorentina were formed in 2015 when the club took over AFC Firenze’s Série A license. They were the first fully professional women’s club in Italy and won the league title in 2016-17 before Juventus were formed. Last season, Fiorentina were eliminated from the tournament by then WSL Champions Chelsea, so the tie represents a touch of déjà vu for the home side.

They narrowly lost the first leg 1-0 at Kingsmeadow before capitulating to a 6-0 defeat at home in the second leg. It remains to be seen whether boss Antonio Cincotta- who said he expects 180 minutes of hell from this tie– tailors his approach so that his team do not suffer a similar fate at the Stadio Artemi Franchi.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Jill Roord opened her account on her full debut against West Ham on Sunday having also bagged a hat trick against Spurs in pre-season. The signing of Roord was an intriguing one, with Little, Nobbs and van de Donk, the Gunners don’t lack attacking midfielders. Roord left Bayern Munich citing a lack of game time and has come to a club where, arguably, the competition is even stiffer than it is at Bayern.

Full data from the West Ham match here https://t.co/FLWBWoXnBH. Jill Roord had 100% accuracy from 47 passes. — Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) September 12, 2019

However, Roord is building her case for regular inclusion and started every game she was available for during pre-season. Montemurro said that he asked Jill to play a slightly deeper role in the second half against West Ham to preserve her energy, which suggests she will definitely start again. Roord has plenty of Champions League experience with Bayern and she already has an understanding with Miedema and van de Donk developed at international level.

? Strong play by @bmeado9… ? And a sweet debut finish from @JillRoordNL!@ArsenalWFC are picking up from where they left off last season! pic.twitter.com/WPu01MEnWf — Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) September 8, 2019

PREDICTED LINE-UP

1.ZINSBERGER, 20.MAIER, 16.QUINN, 5.BEATTIE, 15.McCABE, 6.WILLIAMSON, 10.LITTLE (c), 14.ROORD, 17.EVANS, 7.van de DONK, 11.MIEDEMA. Subs; 2.Veje, 3.Mitchell, 8.Nobbs, 18.Peyraud-Magnin, 22.Schnaderbeck, 23.Mead.

HOW TO CATCH THE GAME

Currently, all we know is that the game is being shown on Sky Italia- it’s a 6pm kickoff in the UK. There is some suggestion that Fiorentina will stream the game live online and on their Facebook page too.

There's a suggestion on ViolaNation (linked below) that the game will be streamed on Fiorentina's website https://t.co/1R46l6QDQh. Obviously TV coverage would be better, but if all else fails, that might work.https://t.co/8aOSsLTX0U — Dan Critchlow (@afcDW) September 12, 2019

COMING UP

We won’t have the usual post-match reaction from this match, but we will have a full preview for the trip to Manchester United on the site over the weekend, with exclusive player reaction on the site on Monday evening, as well as a short analysis piece on that game on Tuesday. The match talking points pieces are new this season and for a little flavour of how they will look, check out the piece on the West Ham game below.