Arsenal Women v Ajax UEFA WCL 2022-23 qualifier preview
Arsenal Women face Ajax Women at Meadow Park in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier tomorrow night (Sept 20th 7.30pm).
Arsenal Women come into the game from a comfortable 4-0 win at home over Brighton in the Women’s Super League opener on Friday (Sept 16th). Beth Mead provided an assist and added 2 goals to the scoresheet, with Blackstenius and Little providing the other goals leading them to a fantastic win over Brighton.
Ajax Women also beat Fortuna Sittard by the same score (4-0) in their opening game of the new Women’s Eredivisie 2022/23 season. Victoria Pelova took the score to 1-0 in the first half. The second half saw Koot scoring in the 77th minute with 2 further goals in the 90th minute, which came from Pelova and Verhoeve scored the last of the match.
The Dutch team qualified for this stage with a 5-2 aggregate win over German side Eintracht Frankfurt in last month´s first qualifying round. Arsenal received automatic qualification for this stage due to their second-place finish in the Barclays Women´s Super League last season.
The winner across the two legs will secure qualification for the group stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
This will be the first official meeting between these two sides. Arsenal are currently on a five-game win streak in all competitions. Ajax have won three of their four competitive fixtures this season.
Neither team has reported any injuries or suspensions ahead of the game.
Arsenal have good form in Europe and are expected to gain their place in the group stage. The Gunners come into the game in fine form, having won their last five matches but Ajax could give them a good run for their money if given the opportunity. And they do have some quality players to challenge Arsenal.
When asked about Arsenal Women v Tottenham Women in the North London Derby next week, Jonas Eidevall´s response was “Ajax, Ajax, I´m only at Ajax. Tuesday Ajax. It´s a massive game for us. We want to be in the Champions League group stage. It´s really important for us. I don´t want to disrespect the North London Derby at this time here but I´m not even thinking about it. It´s only Ajax. We need to make a strong performance here. After that, then it´s North London Derby”
Will the Dutch side be cautious in their approach to the game due to Arsenal´s superior quality? They could try and keep the score low until we have the return game in Holland?
What are your scoresheet predictions? We´d love to hear from you!
Michelle Maxwell
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I just wish I were more informed on the womens game. And esp on our team. But as thing are I HAVE NOT THE KNOWLEDGDE TO MAKE AN INFORMED COMMENT, so I won’t.
But of course I hope we win. But will we? SADLY, I HAVE NO IDEA!