Arsenal Women vs PSG Women UWCL preview: the Parisians have an edge over the Gunners

PSG and Arsenal have eased their way through the UWCL so far, both scoring over 10 goals in four matches.

The last remaining English side have won all their matches and scored 19 goals in their four matches leading to the quarter-final.

Vivianne Miedema scored 10 of those goals and is the tournament's leading goal scorer.

The Parisians have won three and drawn one of their matches and scored 14 goals in the tournament so far.

PSG are coming into the game off the back a Coupe de France final defeat to Lyon and have two competitive matches under their belt before arriving in San Sebastian.

Arsenal have not played a competitive match since February when they fell 2-1 to a strong Chelsea side, who knocked PSG out of the UWCL last campaign.

Team news

Joe Montemurro brings a 22 women Arsenal squad which includes all of his new signings: Steph Catley, Lydia Williams, Caitlin Foord, Malin Gut and Noëlle Maritz.

When the original fixtures were set to be played in March/April, Lia Wälti, Danielle van de Donk, Beth Mead and Kim Little were all injured but with lockdown and no competitive football, all four key players to Arsenal are fit to play.

Arsenal Squad:

Goalkeepers: Lydia Williams, Manuela Zinsberger, Fran Stenson

Defenders: Jennifer Beatie, Leah Williamson, Steph Catley, Noelle Maritz, Leonie Maier, Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Ruby Mace

Midfielders: Danielle van de Donk, Jordan Nobbs, Kim Little, Lia Walti, Jill Roord, Mail Gut, Melisa Filis

Forwards: Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Lisa Evans, Katie McCabe, Caitlin Foord

Olivier Echouafni's 23-woman squad includes three new signings Ramona Bachmann, Charlotte Voll and Bénédicte Simon.

Bachmann came to Paris from Chelsea and has a few pointers for the teammates on how to overcome Arsenal given her last three meetings with the Gunners has resulted in wins.

PSG Squad:

Goaleepers: Charlotte Voll, Christiane Endler, Arianna Criscione

Defenders: Benedicte Simone, Alana Cook, Paulina Dudek, Irene Paredes, Sandy Baltimore;

Midfielders: Luana, Grace Geyoro, Nadia Nadim, Ashley Lawrence, Sara Däbritz, Karina Saevik, Laurina Fazer, Perle Marroni, Formiga, Lea Khelifi

Forwards: Ramona Bachmann, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Kadidiatou Diani, Signe Bruun, Jordyn Huitema.

Joe Montemurro's thoughts

Speaking to the media ahead of his squad's fixture against PSG, he said:

"We're always confident in what we do and what we believe in."

Montemurro also believes that PSG have the edge due to having played competitive fixtures:

"PSG have that edge, that's the reality.

"We couldn't do much about it, it is what it is, but we've prepped as well as we can for the situation."

PSG have notably played a classic 4-3-3 but have resorted to a 4-4-2 in more recent games:

"They have a good front three and they play 4-4-2 in terms of defensive shape and we've prepared for both of those scenarios."

The Gunners have trained hard to fix the errors from their past matches and the Australian boss has made sure to stimulate training sessions as realistic as possible ahead of the UWCL.

Montemurro is confident that his squad has the qualities and confidence to get the best of PSG.

Players to watch

Vivianne Miedema, Arsenal

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The Dutch all-time leading goalscorer will always be a threat no matter the team she's playing against or the competition.

She already has 10 goals to her name in this year's competition, but it also wouldn't be surprising if she doesn't score in this match but rather assists goals for her teammates.

With new partnerships brewing with Foord and capitilising from old ones, even if the Parisians manage to stop her scoring, she can hurt opponents in playmaking as well.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto, PSG

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The French striker was controversially left out of France's 2019 World Cup squad after being Ligue 1's highest goalscorer with 16 league goals and finish with 23 goals in all competitions.

She has a good partnership with fellow forward, Huitema in PSG's top two, who have been resorting to paying 4-4-2 rather than a typical 4-3-3.

Huitema plays as a high striker, but when the time come she drops into a high number 10 position and lets Katoto run into the gap she leaves in their opponent's defensive line.

There is no doubt that Katoto is one of France's best goal scorers at the moment and a lot of the match will depend with how Arsenal handle the two strikers runs onto a ball coming from a wide position.