Frida Maanum “it is a fight now” for Arsenal Women’s WSL top 3 spot by Michelle
Currently, only two things matter to the Arsenal women: getting wins and how their fellow WSL top 3 opponents, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City, perform. This weekend, Arsenal did what they had to do: beat Leicester 1-0. That win saw Eidevall and his team have something to smile about, at least for a moment, after a tricky period where they had seen some of their key players, like Laura Wienroither, Kim Little, and Leah Williamson, join Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead at the treatment table.
As Eidevall and his team enjoyed the rest of their weekend, their top three rivals were also in action. Manchester United, who need to drop at least 5 points for Arsenal to finish in front of them, disappointingly added 3 points, winning their weekend’s game 3-0 against an unreliable Spurs. Chelsea also made it hard for Arsenal to go past them as they won their weekend’s league game against Everton, 7-0. However, as United and Chelsea’s wins frustrated Arsenal’s WSL title ambitions, Manchester City dropped points, losing their weekend league game against Liverpool, 1-2. City’s loss could go a long way towards guaranteeing that Arsenal (if they don’t drop points or match City’s results) finishes in the WSL top 3, with City fourth.
With this matchday done and dusted, Arsenal must look forward to what’s next. Next, they take on Brighton. Brighton is one of the four games that remain that they ought to win.
The WSL is on the home stretch, and injury-stricken or not, teams need to fight, as Frida Maanum told Arseblog after Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Leicester, Arsenal women will fight with what they’ve got to end the season well:
“Obviously, it is a fight now. We know that. We know the injuries we have and the squad we have. The girls are amazing, and every day in training, we all just work as hard as we can and try to maximise everything we have right now. I think you saw that again today,”
If Manchester United and Chelsea manage to win the games they are expected to, in these last weeks of the season, then Arsenal really are only competing for that coveted top 3 spot – that is the spot that will propel them into the Champions League next season. Finishing 4th is not an option for our Gunners. Below is the WSL table, as it currently stands, with Arsenal 3 points behind Manchester City but crucially with 2 games in hand. A win at Brighton on Wednesday would see Arsenal move to 3rd, above Man City on goal difference, still with a game in hand..
Do you think our Gunners can do it? Of course they can!
COYGW!
Michelle Maxwell
Follow Michelle on Just Gooner Women on Twitter for regular updates on the Arsenal Womens Team!
Do you want to read more about the Arsenal Women’s Team? Click here….
