Familiar concerns as Arsenal women draw with Manchester United

Arsenal Women remain unbeaten, but another draw has revived concerns over the issue that hurt their title challenge last season.

Arsenal Women remain unbeaten at the start of the WSL season, but familiar problems are already threatening to undermine a side with ambitions of winning the title as they struggled once again to overcome a low block.

One victory and two draws from their opening three league matches have left Arsenal on five points, fourth in the table and four behind Manchester City who have maximum points.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United was salvaged late, but the broader concern is harder to dismiss.

Arsenal are controlling matches, reaching dangerous areas and creating opportunities without turning enough of that work into goals.

17 shots against United, 30 against Crystal Palace last weekend and 13 against Brighton on the opening weekend have yielded just two goals. That’s 60 shots with a combined xG of 5.86 – more than enough to have taken maximum points this season.

United took the lead at the Emirates in the 67th minute through Julia Zigiotti Olme, before 19-year-old Smilla Holmberg equalised in the fifth minute of added time to at least rescue a point.

The numbers made the dropped points particularly frustrating once again. From the aforementioned 17 shots to United’s four, seven efforts were on target to their three, with 59 touches in the opposition box to United’s paltry three.

Arsenal completed 442 passes to United’s 298 and delivered 16 crosses while United managed none.

The concern naturally comes after what happened last season.

Arsenal finished second in 2025-26 with 51 points, four behind Manchester City, after drawing six league matches. Too many stalemates cost them the title, which is why two more draws in the opening three matches now feel so concerning.

That does not mean the season has already slipped away. Three matches are far too few for that conclusion, and Arsenal remain unbeaten.

But teams who aspire to become champions cannot repeatedly dominate games without converting that superiority into victories in the WSL.

Arsenal travel to Chelsea on 27 September, with Chelsea on seven points from their three matches. After that, it’s a game at City.

Before that, however, they play HB Koge on Tuesday in the Champions League.

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