Alessia Russo will return to her former club when Manchester United Women host Arsenal Women in the Women’s Super League. The hosts’ season got off to an exciting start with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa. Arsenal lost to Liverpool in a shocker.
Preview (Manchester United Women vs. Arsenal Women)
Man United finished second in the WSL after finishing second in the title battle the previous season. It was their best-ever league finish. Marc Skinner’s team would have been happy to start the season with a 2-1 away victory over Aston Villa. They hoped to build another title challenge. Rachel Daly’s early goal in the 76th minute was shortly canceled out by Lucia Garcia. Rachel Williams headed in a goal in the last seconds to complete the comeback. It gave Man United their eighth straight WSL victory.
The Red Devils will eagerly anticipate competing in the Women’s Champions League when they take on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their second-round qualifying match on Tuesday. However, before they can fully concentrate on that match, they must first navigate a challenging home match against Arsenal. The hosts’ outstanding home record, which includes an eight-game unbeaten streak in WSL home games since losing to Chelsea in November 2022, will provide motivation for the encounter. Arsenal’s 2023–24 season got off to a poor start when they were eliminated from the Champions League. They lost on penalties to Paris FC in the first round of qualifying.
Jonas Eidevall’s team suffered further setbacks against Liverpool in their league opener at the Emirates Stadium in front of a WSL record crowd after seeing their European campaign end prematurely. After losing to Chelsea and Aston Villa in their final two games of the 2022–23 season, Arsenal suffered a third straight league loss thanks to a goal from Liverpool’s Miri Taylor in the second half. Arsenal cannot afford to start the WSL season with back-to-back losses if they want to have any realistic chance of winning their first championship since 2019. The WSL is just 22 games long.
Russo is now sporting the red and white of Arsenal after signing on a free transfer. She chose to reject a new agreement with the Red Devils. She was the match-winner on both occasions even if the Gunners may have lost both league games.
Team News
Aoife Mannion and Emma Watson remain out for Man United. Skinner has said there are no new injury concerns heading into Friday’s game. Williams may have to make do with a spot among the replacements despite coming off the bench to score the game-winning goal against Aston Villa since Skinner is planning to start with the same starting lineup. The central defensive duo of Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner will protect the starting goalkeeper for the visitors, Mary Earps, who was rumored to be moving to Arsenal over the summer.
Beth Mead who is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, is getting closer to playing. Friday’s game will come too soon for her. In addition to Mead, Leah Williamson, Laura Wienroither, Vivianne Miedema, and Teyah Goldie are still out due to similar injuries. When she leads the line against her previous team, Russo will be hoping to score her first WSL goal while wearing an Arsenal jersey.Man United has defeated the Gunners in each of their past four competitive encounters, and we predict that they will use home advantage to win by a slim margin on Friday.
Manchester United Women 2 – 1 Arsenal Women
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