Eidevall “this is the most competitive WSL season there has ever been.” as Arsenal Women head to Brighton

By Michelle - 18 November 2023, 14:15

Another WSL jam-packed weekend has arrived. Arsenal Women go to Broadfield Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Gunner Women have made a turnaround following a poor start to the season, losing 1-0 to Liverpool and then drawing 2-2 with Manchester United. They have since picked up their game and are now on a four-game winning streak. They have won eight of the last nine meetings against Brighton, drawing one (a league cup game that Brighton won on penalties). That head-to-head record, along with the fact that Arsenal is superior on paper, should mean that the Gooners can expect nothing but a win this weekend.

However, Jonas Eidevall has debunked the notion that this game will be simple, stating in his pre-Brighton Presser, that this WSL season is unlike any other, you can’t be complacent as opponents are now tougher, and that if you don’t give it your all, you may be in for a harsh surprise. That is why his team will give their all in every game to ensure victory.

“If you go into the WSL this season and you’re complacent towards any game, I think you must have been sleeping and not watching any games from the last season. That time has way passed—this is the most competitive WSL season there has ever been. That will show in every game. If you’re not ready for that, you’re not going to be ready for the season.

“I’m not going to have that talk in front of every game because that’s also saying that some games are tougher than others and ‘now we need to be 100 percent, but for this game, maybe we only need to be 90 or 95 percent and still get away with it’. No. We cannot have that mindset. We need to be 100 percent all the time. It’s a 22-match league; it’s not a big ask to be 100 percent for each one of those games. That has to be the standard we set.”

If the Gunners’ approach is to give it everything on the pitch, I don’t see why they can’t conclude the season as champions. Everything is do-able with determination and dedication. That said, Gooners expect a win against Brighton and hope that will be so.