Arsenal were defeated 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium with a very good 40,604 attendance that opened the door for Chelsea to take over at the top of the League following their 3-0 win against Spurs.
For this top of the table clash against Manchester United, Jonas Eidevall had kept faith in the same starting XI that had defeated Leicester City before the international break.
Vivianne Miedema back from her extended break stayed on the bench as Frida Maanuum carried on her brilliant run of form.
The starting XI was therefore Zinsberger; Wienroither, Wubben-Moy, Catley, McCabe; Wälti, Nobbs, Maanum; Mead, Blackstenius, Foord.
Why did the defeat happen? First a failure on defensive set-pieces that led to two goals.
At the end of the day, if you cannot do the basics, you will get punished and you will loose games.
Team defending was at fault, individual defending also at fault for the first goal as Toone was left unmarked at the back. Obviously, not marking players on set pieces is a cardinal sin.
On the attacking side, Arsenal clearly missed Kim Little’s on the ball ability, especially in tight spaces.
One of the issues with this for Arsenal is in the inability (and sort of refusal?) to play through players, even if they are closely picked up. Very few combinations in tight spaces, to break through the midfield press.
United varying it up, & Toone pretty pivotal. https://t.co/OBR5LDw3rl
— Carl Carpenter (@CarlonCarpenter) November 19, 2022
The build up play was not good enough and although it improved a little bit in the second half, there was a clear problem going through the middle. There was a players’ profile problem on the day. Maanum and Nobbs are both number 8 type who are very good at breaking the lines, but no as good as playmaking from deep. Things got a little bit better when Miedema came on for Nobbs, but it was not enough.
Chelsea took advantage of our slip-up with a 3-0 demolition of Spurs on Sunday, they are three points clear, but we have a game in hand. United are level with us on points. At the bottom of the table, Leicester have not gained any points since they have sacked Lydia Befford. They trail Reading by three points and Liverpool by four.
https://twitter.com/BarclaysWSL/status/1594385081216516100
The biggest worry right now with three days to go before the Juventus away game in the Champions League is players’ injury. With Beth Mead late substitution and awaiting a medical assessment, Arsenal have now 15 senior players available. Alongside Mead, Little, Hurtig, Williamson and Rafaelle are unavailable and therefore options off the bench are becoming very scarce, especially in attacking positions. The next four or five weeks will certainly be difficult in term of load management and players will have to dig deep to perform consistently well and improve from the disappointing United defeat.