By Cameron Sheath

Arsenal travel to Anfield this Sunday for a lunchtime kickoff against Liverpool. The Merseyside team head into this one having failed to win any of their last five games in all competitions, losing four and drawing one. That being said, their two WSL wins this season match Arsenal’s, who sit two points above their hosts with two more draws and two fewer defeats.

Liverpool have also scored in all but one of their games this season and notched two against both Manchester City and London City Lionesses, which was enough to nick a point from the latter a fortnight ago. That’s not a great sign for the Gunners, who have scored more than once in only two of their league games this campaign (Manchester City, Spurs).

Ones to Watch

There’s no new team news for either team, so I’ll head straight into the next segment. Four Liverpool players have scored three or more goals already this season, and the hosts have capable technicians all over the field. Vivien Endemann stands out among those, though, having averaged a goal or assist every 91 minutes this season.

For Arsenal, I’ll be looking for Georgia Stanway to stamp her authority on this game. Liverpool typically press high when out of possession, which can leave a lot of space in the midfield once the first line of the press is broken.

A lot of attacking players press for show, rather than with any genuine effort to win possession. That looked to be the case for Liverpool last week, which put an immense amount of pressure on the rest of the team, and contributed significantly to their 4-1 loss. If it’s the same today at Anfield, there’ll be acres for Stanway and Kyra Cooney-Cross to operate in, but I’m highlighting Stanway as the more attacking of the two.

Both midfielders will have to keep tabs on Natalia Ramos, who operates in the 10 for Liverpool, but wears the No.6 shirt. The Spaniard is a tall, physical attacking midfielder, who has an eye for goal from distance, as evidenced by her spectacular goal against Aston Villa in October, which you can watch here (it’s the first highlight in the video, don’t worry).

Liverpool have averaged 60% possession in the WSL this year, trailing only Arsenal (62%) and Chelsea (65%). That shouldn’t matter if Arsenal’s midfield are on their game, and I’d expect the away side to dominate this one, giving Stanway plenty of opportunities to threaten the Liverpool goal.

Speaking of which, Khiara Keating is a player worth focusing on from an Arsenal perspective. Unlike Akane Okuma at Aston Villa, Keating is far from reliable with her feet. The first of London City’s goals a fortnight ago came from dispossessing the Liverpool keeper inside her own box, and she should have been punished again later in that game after passing her teammate into trouble, but got away with it.

Despite this, Gareth Taylor encourages his side to play out from the back, so there could be some joy for the Gunners on the press this afternoon.

Final Thoughts

For all the talk of tactics and coaching decisions, Renee Slegers seems to be at the point of just picking a team and crossing her fingers. That’s not a dig at the head coach; there’s just only so much you can do when so many players are out of form in the attacking third. Arsenal are creating the second-highest XG per game in the WSL, have hit the woodwork more times than any other team (six), and have allowed the fewest shots (48), so there’s really not a lot more she can do.

I wrote a piece on Arsenal’s buffering rebuild during the week, which you can read here, but certain players have started to demand places, which in turn helps the team take shape. Misa has benefited from the absence of Daphne van Domselaar, but appears to be our No. 1. Ona Batlle has looked completely a completely different player on the right, while Emily Fox was Arsenal’s best player last week from left back.

Stanway and Cooney-Cross have been the two players in the team who look completely immovable, having quickly built a solid understanding and a formidable partnership in the middle. Alessia Russo is the only healthy guaranteed starter in Arsenal’s attacking third, though Mariona Caldentey will join her once she returns from injury.

Beyond that, I’d expect Slegers to stick with Leah Williamson and Steph Catley at centre-back, leaving just three starting places up n the air. I don’t think the Olivia Smith experiment up front has worked, but Slegers’ desperation for results forced her hand after the wins over Spurs and Benfica. I’d personally like to see Russo move back into the No.9 position, but there are more likely alternatives.

Those include giving Stina Blackstenius another start. It didn’t work against Birmingham, but the Swede got the assist for the equaliser last weekend, and remains the most likely player, beyond Russo, to return goals there. I don’t think Smith should be dropped, but Arsenal need to get her on the ball more, so a move back out wide would make sense.

That would leave one final wide spot up for grabs, with Caitlin Foord, Lisa Baum, and Geraldine Reuteler in contention. Reuteler was taken off at half-time last weekend, so I’d be surprised to see her get the nod. Foord played the whole game and has impressed in a starting role off the left, but Baum is one of the few players to have provided Slegers with goals already this season.

Given the manager’s frustration with the her side’s inability to maintain their intensity against Villa, I’d actually like to see Kim Little get a start in the 10, with Russo, Smith, Stanway, and another attacker running off her. Slegers got her message across at half-time last Sunday, but it takes on-field leadership to make sure standards don’t drop mid-game.

That being said, here is my predicted line-up for the game at Anfield. Slegers isn’t in a position to rotate unless necessary, so those in form keep their place. There’s enough pace in Smith and Blackstenius to threaten a high line, but plenty of technical ability throughout as well.

This Arsenal team will put it all together one of these days, and what better opportunity than against a Liverpool side that just shipped four to tenth-placed West Ham?

Score Prediction: Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal

I’ll be back with another ‘Monday Musings’ tomorrow, and will have a match review for this one out as soon as I can, as well as another ‘From the Terraces’ entry from Richard. There will then be content surrounding the Women’s trip to Barcelona on Thursday night before a crunch meeting with London City Lionesses next Sunday.