Arsenal Ladies host Hertfordshire rivals Watford Ladies in the pair’s first Continental Cup clash of the season, a competition the Gunners lost to Manchester City Women in the final of last year.
Group One contains league leaders Chelsea Ladies, promotion chasing Reading Women and three of the bottom four from the Women’s Super League Two. Watford, London Bees and Millwall Lionesses have all had a poor first half to the season in English football’s second division but will be hoping a third placed finish will see them through under the new rules.
With the quality of women’s football seemingly improving since this tournament was created in 2011, a new knock-out stage has been introduced in the form of the quarter-finals. The top two clubs from each of the three regional groups will progress, as will the two best third-placed teams. This will offer some much needed incentive to the rest of these southern clubs, with Reading coming closest to both Chelsea and Arsenal in 2014 despite being five points off the pace.
Arsenal Ladies responded to Liverpool defeat to close gap on Chelsea
The home side are competing on two fronts coming into this clash, standing second in the league following their victory over Birmingham City Ladies on Sunday evening whilst being favourites to qualify from a weak group in the Continental Tyres Cup.
Arsenal have had a promising start to their Women’s Super League One campaign despite a loss to Liverpool Ladies just over a week ago, that defeat being their first since the break taken for the Women’s World Cup in Canada and their only defeat in the league this season.
Two early goals from Fara Williams, a fantastic strike arrowed towards the top corner, and Rebecca Easton put the visitors two up in just under 20 minutes of play at Meadow Park before Pablos Sanchon pulled one back for the Gunners with a delicate chip in the second half.
With Arsenal looking for the equaliser to continue their unbeaten start and maintain pressure on Chelsea, Asisat Oshoala broke forward and punished her opposition by lobbing the ball over Emma Byrne to secure the three points.
Looking for a response, Pedro Martinez Losa made three changes to his side upon their trip to Birmingham; this included the arrival of Chioma Ubogagu and goalscorer Natalia Pablos Sanchon at the expense of Carla Humphrey and Danielle Carter. A much higher tempo was on show in the opening exchanges, looking to avoid the slow start displayed a week before.
A mad minute for former Arsenal woman Freda Ayisi, tripping Sanchon and lunging into Leah Williamson, saw the 20-year-old sent off on the verge of half-time to ensure the task was made even harder for the hosts. The Gunners made the numerical advantage count six minutes after the interval when Ubogagu netted the solitary goal of the game to make the most of Chelsea’s defeat to Sunderland 24 hours prior.
One of Arsenal’s Spanish contingent will not be available for the clash, that being Vicky Losada after she limped off at Damson Park. The reds harbour four Spaniards at the club, including the manager and new signing Marta Corredera, with their impressive start to the season typified by the trio all starting on Sunday.
Veteran Kelly Smith is also a doubt for the game but Losa believes the squad has the depth to cope with these injuries. The manager stated that he “does not like to lose players to injury” and that he is “worried” about losing Smith to a bad challenge. He did, however tell Arsenal’s official website that “we [Arsenal] have enough talent in our squad to continue to put pressure on Chelsea and also be competitive in the Continental Cup.”
His side’s record in the Continental Cup is an envious one, winning the first three installments of the tournament before reaching the final last season. The favourites were more than wasteful against Manchester City Women, dominating the early exchanges and missing chances throughout the match. Isobel Christiansen’s second half header ended Arsenal's stranglehold on the trophy and gifted the Citizens with their first major piece of silverware.
Watford Ladies are enduring a less than successful season
Arsenal’s opposition on Wednesday night are enduring a poor season and are very much underachieving in the league. Bottom of the Women’s Super League Two after 11 games played and are sat four points distant of London Bees in ninth due to their diabolical form.
Winning just one game in all competitions, the Golden Girls have lost their last five following their solitary win over Aston Villa Ladies in May. A new defensive system implemented against Millwall Lionesses looked to have solved their defensive shortcoming when they recorded their first clean sheet, with manager John Salomon telling VAVEL that the “foundations have been set” and that “the goals will come”
The addition of Ellie Mason from Chelsea looked to have proved her new boss right, helping Watford to seven goals in the next four games following the stalemate with Millwall. Mason’s stunning effort gifted the club she was at as a youngster with their first win courtesy of a stunning strike on her debut.
Making great progress before the World Cup, which included a record attendance at the game against Yeovil, Watford lost 5-0 in a difficult game away at league leaders Doncaster Belles before succumbing to a disappointing defeat to Durham Women.
Taking the lead in the first 38 seconds, Salomon's women let the lead slip due to a lack of experience on the field. The manager revealed after the game that nine first team players are currently out injured, but was happy with the performances of his youngsters.
Talking to Watford Ladies' website, he looked forward to the upcoming game, stating that "The fixtures against Arsenal and Chelsea bring no pressure whatsoever" and the team will "play with no fear because the expectation is on the opposition".
The opening game of this tournament is not likely to increase confidence, with a heavy defeat expected following their 6-0 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup earlier in the season, but facing some of the stars of international football may be a welcome distraction for many of the players.
Their debut in the competition last year, the first time it was expanded to three groups, ended in a respectable six points following wins against London Bees and Reading Women respectively. The Hornets will need to better this record to progress to the knock-out stages this time around, the Hertfordshire outfit finished fourth while being four and three points off the two third-placed teams last campaign.
Previous encounters
With Watford only joining the Women’s Super League in 2014, the two teams have met just once, that coming in the same competition last season. The clash at Meadow Park ended in what seems like a routine, 3-0 victory but the finalists were frustrated throughout the majority of the game.
Hitting the woodwork twice, it took Arsenal an hour to break down the Watford defense. Japanese World Cup winners Kinga and Ohno combined well throughout the game, but made the crucial incision when the former put through the latter to slot past the ‘keeper. This was followed by a calm finish from Freda Ayisi to double the lead before Rachel Yankey crossed invitingly for Alex Scott, who headed home her second in two games to ensure victory.
It looks to be a similar scoreline for the hosts, who may opt to rest some key players ahead of their encounter with Notts County at the weekend. Watford, who return to league action against Yeovil on Sunday, will be looking to make an impression on the most successful English team in women’s football and are likely to field a strong side.