Key events
45 min We’ll have three added minutes.
45 min Piemonte collects a loose ball and, from 40 yards, reckons Zinsberger is out of position, thrashing a lob from distance that soars over the bar.
44 min “I’m sorry to say it,” returns Charles Antaki, “because she’s obviously a willing worker and makes a nuisance of herself upfront, but this is another display by Blackstenius which shows up her weak suits: ball control, passing and shot execution. Three quite important elements of the striker’s game.”
I can’t disagree. She’s a good player, but also as average a player as Arsenal could legitimately be expected to have in that position.
43 min Holmgaard S puts her head among the boots to head clear, then Russo is penalised for a high boot.
42 min Now Arsenal sustain an attack, Finnigan swiping what looks like an easy clearance behind. Another corner for Arsenal, that yields another.
41 min Arsenal play off Russo, who lays into the path of Little … whose shot is blocked at source by Vanhaevermaet. Everton are defending superbly.
40 min Eeesh, Bissell looks to stop the marauding McCabe and their faces mince. Both should be fine.
39 min Elsewhere, there’s another little ruckus soon to get under way.
37 min If Arsenal don’t win today, any outside hope of the title with extinguish. And that doesn’t look impossible because they’re struggling to play with fluency and sustain attacks.
36 min The corner is half-cleared, then Fox sticks one back into the box only for the wind to catch it and send it behind.
35 min Williamson sets Arsenal away with a fine pass out to Mead, on the right touchline. She finds Pelova and eventually Fox’s cross is blocked behind for yet another corner; that’s good defending from Holmsgaard S.
33 min Blacksteinus is flagged offside while tussling with Finnigan and Arsenal are getting frustrated.
32 min Little out wide to Foord, but when her near-post cross arrives, Blackstenius can’t sort feet out to flick on trger.
30 min Everton are growing in enterprise. It’s brave to try passing out – it shows their manager trusts them – and with Bissell keeping the width down the right, they’re looking to stretch Arsenal when they get the ball.
28 min At risk of going on, Miedema is exactly what’s required against a disciplined defence. I also think Arsenal would get more out of whichever of Russo and Blackstenius stayed on with her on the park.
26 min We’ve barely seen Beth Mead so far, which tells us how solid Everton have been.
24 min Brosnan is down hurt, and that’s bad news for Everton as she’s made a really good start to the game. I think, though, that she’ll be alright.
23 min Mead wins the ball back inside the Everton box after Blackstenius’s shot is blocked, and when the Swede goes again, Little, in the middle totally misses her kick. That is a significant oversight.
23 min “Walton Hall chaos…” emails an anonymous correspondent. “This was after kick off, ticket holders trying to get in…”
22 min “Straight at her,” writes Charlesa Antaki. “Blackstenius’ shot looks like it was meant to pierce Brosnan.”
Yup, she made the save a total piece of Pierce.
20 min Pelova is a lovely footballer and she picks a pass on the edge, slipping through for Blackstenius, and thus tie she lifts her finish … but Brosnan saves anyway, the flag subsequently going up for offside.
20 min Here come Arsenal again, Fox nashing down the right and crossing low through the corridor, no one there to apply the finish.
19 min Holmsgaard S crosses to the back post where Holmsgaard K is up, a snide hand in the back of Fox … and she powers a header against the bar, Vanhaevermaet unable to force home the loose ball.
17 min Everton try pressing Arsenal high and win the ball, Holmsgaard K winning a corner. It’s not easy to do that when defending as low as they are, but they do need to get play down the other end and give Arsenal something to think about.
15 min Snoeijs clears but Arsenal stick another ball into the box and Finnigan concedes yet another corner, this time McCabe trying a sly ball down the side when found outside the box, putting too much on it for Little to catch up before it rolls over the by-line.
15 min Meantime, Foord goes at Hope on the outside, bundling through to earn a corner.
13 min Arsenal are struggling to find gaps in the Everton rearguard, that Blackstenius chance all they’ve mustered so far. But it’s hard to see the home side holding out if they spend another 75 minutes defending the box.
11 min Arsenal win a corner down the right and McCabe swerves in a brute, Piemonte flicking behind to cede one on the other side; this time, Everton clear well and they look very well-drilled at the back.
9 min They’re defending deep but Everton are still playing out, Finnigan giving it away and Pelova spreading to Little, who slides in behind for Blackstenius! Brosnan, though, is up and in her face immediately, making a terrific block at her near post.
8 min Arsenal look to pass through midfield but again Everton close the gaps well, Catley opting to go long and her pass bouncing through to Brosnan.
6 min Now Everton move forward with the ball, Snoeijs winning it in midfield and finding Piemonte, but when it goes wide to Bissell she opts to turn back inside and the attack breaks down.
5 min Pelova holds on to the ball a second or two longer than is sensible, such that when she slides it outside her, Little is offside.
4 min That being the case, I’d expect to see Williamson moving forward with the ball to make the extra player in midfield; her quality in possession could make a crucial difference here.
3 min By the looks of things, Everton are playing 5-4-1, trying to stay close and compact from top to bottom and side to side.
1 min The away contingent are in decent voice and Pelova drives forward through midfield, finding Foord down the right … but her cross thunks into Brosnan’s midriff.
1 min Away we go!
The players take the knee. All Black lives matter.
The teams huddle, after which we’ll get going.
The teams are with us, Arsenal in their Aztec tribute tops.
Eidevall says in any season there are positives and negatives, thanking the fans for their effort, while Brian Sørensen is looking forward to seeing how the Holmgaard twins perform in tandem,
Is Jonas Eidevall in trouble? It’s hard to blame the manager when any team in the world would miss Williamson, Miedema and Mead, but at the same time, should it have looked better than this? My sense is he’ll get another season, but he’ll need to incite a significant improvement.
Katie McCabe tells BBC that playing all over is just a regular season for her and injuries are a fact of football. Arsenal are really disappointed with how they started the season, their Champions-League exit in particular, but now they just want to finish the season well.
Walton Hall Park is sold out and the atmosphere is building; it looks a nice day but I bet it’s fresh as.
We’re going to miss her something fierce aren’t we?
Great news for Arsenal men. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Timber shapes up in England, and if he can reinvent himself as a a serious left-back he’ll make a massive difference.
I guess one of the problems Eidevall has is the number of brilliant attackers he has. Of course, it’s possible he knows more about football than I do, but I’d stick Miedema at the heart of my team and go from there – especially as his side lack a bit of pace through the middle.
I really hope Vivianne Miedema gets back to her best. We shouldn’t forget that even before her injury, Eidevall frequently picked Blackstenius ahead of her, but she’s a total genius and we need her.
Nothing to do with our game and yet everything to do with our game. Football is beautiful.
So where is the game? Everton will, I imagine, play five at the back, looking to give Arsenal bother with twin strikers, forcing Williamson and Catley to mark a player each. That’d mean onus on the full-backs to keep the width, given a narrow three in midfield, and that might run into trouble against Arsenal’s 4-4-2, the potential for overloads out wide set. But if Everton can win the numbers game in midfield, they can make this a tricky afternoon for the Gunners by keeping Mead – in particular – out of the game.
To read:
Arsenal, meanwhile, are unchanged following their 3-0 win over Leicester, and I’m not surprised. Beth Mead and Alessia Russo scored their goals that day, and if those two are firing, chances are the team is in decent nick.
Everton make three changes from the side that one at Brighton last week. Kathrine Moller Kuhl is, I think, injured, and is replaced by Emma Bissell; Hanna Bennison is also out, likewise Aurora Galli, with Dejana Stefanovic and Halldor Stenevik coming on.
Let’s have some teams!
Preamble
It’s now or never isn’t it? With three games to go, Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal sit third, trailing leaders Manchester City – who they meet next weekend – by six points, with Chelsea splitting the two, sat halfway in between with a game in hand and a freshly aggravating grudge fuelling their sense of mission.
In theory, Everton should present few problems, four off the bottom and with only pride to play for. But the practicality is a little different, the Toffees an improving side who gave Arsenal problems when they met in January – and Chelsea in the Cup quarter, losing by the odd goal in both.
The Gunners, though, are starting to look a little bit more like their old selves. Beth Mead is back and scoring, Vivianne Miedema is getting closer, and Leah Williamson has re-ensconced at the back. That may come too late to save this season, but football being the never-ending continuum that it is, they’re also playing for next – and the chance to, perhaps, save a manager who is surely under pressure, by reminding people what they can do with their best players available.
Kick-off: 12.30pm
