Key events
24 min Brosnan is down hurt, and thatâs bad news for Everton as sheâs made a really good start to the game. I think, though, that sheâll be alright.
23 min Mead wins the ball back inside the Everton box after Blacksteniusâs shot is blocked, and when the Swede goes again, Little, in the middle totally misses her kick. That is a significant oversight.
23 min âWalton Hall chaosâ¦â emails an anonymous correspondent. âThis was after kick off, ticket holders trying to get inâ¦â
22 min âStraight at her,â writes Charlesa Antaki. âBlacksteniusâ shot looks like it was meant to pierce Brosnan.â
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. Itâs 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 theyâve mustered so far. But itâs 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 Theyâre 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, Iâd 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 Brosnanâs midriff.
1 min Away we go!
The players take the knee. All Black lives matter.
The teams huddle, after which weâll 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? Itâs 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 heâll get another season, but heâll 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 itâs fresh as.
Weâre going to miss her something fierce arenât we?
Great news for Arsenal men. Iâm really looking forward to seeing how Timber shapes up in England, and if he can reinvent himself as a a serious left-back heâll make a massive difference.
ð¨ Jurrien Timber, once again, STARTS for the Arsenal U21s, as they travel to face Liverpool at AXA Training Centre this afternoon. ð³ð± #afc pic.twitter.com/dks8gfadxB
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) April 28, 2024
I guess one of the problems Eidevall has is the number of brilliant attackers he has. Of course, itâs possible he knows more about football than I do, but Iâd stick Miedema at the heart of my team and go from there â especially as his side lack a bit of pace through the middle.
I really hope Vivianne Miedema gets back to her best. We shouldnât forget that even before her injury, Eidevall frequently picked Blackstenius ahead of her, but sheâs 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. Thatâd mean onus on the full-backs to keep the width, given a narrow three in midfield, and that might run into trouble against Arsenalâs 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 â in particular â out of the game.
To read:
Arsenal, meanwhile, are unchanged following their 3-0 win over Leicester, and Iâm 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
Itâs now or never isnât it? With three games to go, Jonas Eidevallâs Arsenal sit third, trailing leaders Manchester City â who they meet next weekend â 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 â 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, theyâre also playing for next â 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
