Fara Williams knows that Arsenal will need to rely on more than just ‘pretty football when they play Chelsea this weekend in their league game.

Arsenal sit five points behind Chelsea, who are in second place, after their 2-0 win over Notts County on Sunday.

“With this team at Arsenal, we can beat anybody when we bring what we brought in the FA Cup final,” Williams told the Islington Gazette.

“But you have to play the physical game as well as the pretty game. Arsenal are known to play football and try to make the football look good, but you don’t always win games like that and I think this team’s now realising you’ve got to earn the right to play.

“I think we have to mix it in most games – it’s the same in the men’s game. You don’t have the opportunity to play every time and you have to match the opposition physically.

“We proved that in the FA Cup final against Chelsea and we’ve done that well against Notts County, but we can’t relax – we have to continue and take it into Sunday’s game.

“Chelsea are a top team – they rotate their front four all the time and they’ll put you under pressure. It’ll probably be a tight game early on but I’m sure it’ll open up.

“We need to win most of our games and hope for other results, but we’ve still got to play Man City and Chelsea this season, so it’s in our hands to take points off them and close the gap.”

The game kicks off at 3pm on Sunday, 17th July and is live on BT Sport.