Salute

Season Preview: Arsenal

The Gunners host West Ham in their Barclays FA WSL opener at Meadow Park on Sunday 8 September

As the 2019-20 season draws nearer, we’re taking a closer look at what to expect from each club – here’s your reigning champions, Arsenal.

Joe Montemurro’s team will re-emerge for the most highly anticipated season of women’s football with a target on their back after making their title-winning campaign look easy last season.

There is no doubt that with the addition of Manchester United, this season promises to be the most fiercely competed edition of the FA WSL and this time around, Arsenal fans have a North London Derby to look forward to as well.

The Gunners suffered a raft of long-term injuries last term but luckily for Montemurro the players that stayed fit performed out of their skin for him as with Dutch goal machine Vivianne Miedema breaking all the records with an unprecedented 22 league goals.

At just 23, Miedema is not only one of the deadliest finishers in the world but her country’s top scorer of all time and will no doubt return from the summer World Cup with more experience and determination to continue destroying defences.

Arsenal fans will wave goodbye to Dutch pair Sari van Veenendaal and Dominique Bloodworth but welcome a hoard of Bayern Munich imports to their ranks in the form of Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Manuela Zinsberger, Jill Roord and Leonie Maier as well as a second stint at the club for Jen Beattie.

The long-awaited return of Jordan Nobbs might well feel like the signing of the summer however and presents Montemurro with the opportunity to fill his midfield with Nobbs, Danielle van de Donk and Kim Little – a truly frightening trio of talented players.

Here’s the moment @JordanNobbs8 made her long-awaited return from injury 🤩



You just LOVE to see it ♥️ pic.twitter.com/3ivPkNQxll — Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) August 25, 2019

Arsenal’s final pre-season friendly saw them dispatch their bitter rivals Spurs 6-0 but results prior to that include a 5-2 loss to Barcelona as well as defeats to Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich.

There can however be no doubt that the Gunners remain favourites to retain their title this season and will be ready to hit the ground running when the Hammers arrive at Meadow Park.

2018-19 Stats Watch:

Finish: 1st

Top scorer: Vivianne Miedema (22)

Biggest victory: 7-0 (away at Yeovil Town)

Heaviest defeat: 0-2 (away at Manchester City)

Key Ins/Outs:

Ins: Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Manuela Zinsberger, Jill Roord, Leonie Maier, Jennifer Beattie

Outs: Janni Arnth, Dominique Bloodworth, Sari van Veenendaal, Ava Kuyken

Player to watch: Jill Roord

It would be easy to pick out any one of Miedema, Little, Nobbs, Van de Donk or Beth Mead as the player to watch at Meadow Lane this season but none of them present anything new.

But Arsenal fans might have another young Dutch superstar-in-the-making on their hands in the form of Jill Roord.

The 22-year-old arrives in London with a Euro 2017 winners medal, 2019 World Cup goals and a final appearance and Champions League football under her belt having helped Bayern Munich to the semi-finals last season.

A midfielder by trade, Roord might find it tricky to dislodge the Meadow Park favourites in her first season but could also be used in a wider role to service Miedema with balls into the box if required.

What they said:

Kim Little

“A few players have left this summer, a couple of the Dutch girls, and we have brought a few players in to replace them and add some more depth to the squad,” said the Scot.

“There is a lot we can improve on this year though and I think that we will definitely have to get stronger because the teams in the league are getting stronger.

“Manchester United have come up and we need to look out for them but our plan will be to win the league again and go back-to-back.

“We also have the Champions League to deal with too and more games so it will be important that we continue to get better if we want to be successful again this season.

“West Ham at home is up first and it feels nice to get underway at home at Meadow Park so really looking forward to that as well.”

Beth Mead

“As a team we are happy to face anyone but we know that West Ham are a good side and we have conceded goals against them in the past so we will need to on them from the first minute,” said the Lioness, who broke the FA WSL record for most assists in one season last term, with 12.

“That is what we did to teams last year and I am sure if we do that again we will be successful.

“If I can try and beat that assists tally from last season that would be good but the main thing is try and score some more goals.

“With the history and expectation of this club it is essential that we retain the title because that is the mark of a strong side and a consistent side so that will be prime objective.”