Arsenal host Juventus in the Women’s Champions League this evening hoping to move one step closer to securing a spot in the knockout rounds.
It is the fourth fixture of the group stages and Renée Slegers’s side sit second in Group C with six points. Those points come courtesy of big wins over Valarenga (4-1) and Juventus (4-0) meaning they would be all but guaranteed a spot in the knockout rounds.
The Gunners also head into this game on the back of a superb north London derby win over Spurs in the WSL and Slegers will hope to keep that momentum going as she eyes silverware at the backend of the season.
There is some jeopardy for Arsenal however. Juventus are currently on three points and would join the Gunners on six should they triumph at the Emirates Stadium meaning Arsenal need to be defensively solid to avoid an upset.
Follow all the action with our live blog below:
Arsenal vs Italy
Arsenal have won six of their last seven encounters with teams from Italy (D1), scoring 16 goals and conceding just two.
In fact the Gunners’ first meeting with Italian opponents remains their only defeat. It was a 0-2 loss to Torres Terra Sarda in the 2004/05 Women’s Cup quarter-final first leg in Sassari.
They would ultimately progress to the semi-finals with a 4-1 victory in the home second leg.
Emily Fox on Arsenal’s growing confidence
Arsenal defender Emily Fox took the pre-match press conference alongside her manager and spoke about how the team are growing in confidence.
She said: “Right now, we’re all very confident in each other and ourselves. And I think with the entire team, we feel together. Each game has been very difficult and we’ve been learning from each and really finishing our chances and learning from the hiccups at the beginning of the season.
“I think with tomorrow, like Renee was saying, it’s another game, another challenge, and I think we’re up for it. And I think with just the variety of games and opponents that we’ve played, it’s given us more confidence in the sense that we can deal with anything.”
Slegers on Arsenal’s last match versus Juventus
The Arsenal interim boss said: “It was a hard game for us to play. It was 1-0 for a long time, we scored three late goals so they got a chance early in the game. So I don’t think there’s any sign of complacency amongst us. We know how hard it was, and in the end, we got a big result. But it took us so much to get there, both physically and psychologically.
“They know us very well now, and we know them very well. I think it’s a guessing game of what they will tweak and what they will do differently. From a coaching perspective, it’s fun because you have one performance and you play against the exact same opponent and the challenge you have in front of you is to try to do better.”
Arsenal’s players arrive at the Emirates
Renee Slegers: Arsenal moving from Emirates for men’s game is a bump in the road
Interim head coach Renee Slegers believes Arsenal’s move to Meadow Park for their Champions League clash against Bayern Munich is a “bump in the road”.
Earlier this week the club announced that the game on December 18 will take place at Meadow Park after a fixture clash with the men’s team meant they were unable to play at the Emirates Stadium as had been planned.
Mikel Arteta’s team face Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on the same day and the game cannot be moved due to Palace’s schedule as well as Tottenham playing Manchester United the following night.
A defensive battle?
Arsenal have kept five clean sheets in their last six games against Italian teams while Juventus have kept six clean sheets in their seven previous away group games.
Whose defence will come out on top tonight?
Juve are strong on the road
Juventus have lost only one of their previous seven away group matches (four wins and two draws).
But, that loss was a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal in 2022/23.
An unwanted record for Juve
Defeat for Juventus would mean successive Women’s Champions League losses for the first time since 2020/21. They slumped to a 4-0 defeat at home to Arsenal last time out.