Everton v Arsenal: Women’s Super League – live

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It’s now or never isn’t it? With three games to go, Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal sit third, trailing leaders Manchester City – who they meet next weekend – by six points, with Chelsea splitting the two, sat halfway in between with a game in hand and a freshly aggravating grudge fuelling their sense of mission.

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In theory, Everton should present few problems, four off the bottom and with only pride to play for. But the practicality is a little different, the Toffees an improving side who gave Arsenal problems when they met in January – and Chelsea in the Cup quarter, losing by the odd goal in both.

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The Gunners, though, are starting to look a little bit more like their old selves. Beth Mead is back and scoring, Vivianne Miedema is getting closer, and Leah Williamson has re-ensconced at the back. That may come too late to save this season, but football being the never-ending continuum that it is, they’re also playing for next – and the chance to, perhaps, save a manager who is surely under pressure, by reminding people what they can do with their best players available.

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Kick-off: 12.30pm

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Today's Blues! 📋🔵#EVEARS #BarclaysWSL pic.twitter.com/ZIArMclaVN

&mdash; Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) April 28, 2024

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🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @leahcwilliamson in defence
🇮🇪 @Katie_McCabe11 at left back
🇸🇪 @SBlackstenius leads the line

COME ON YOU GUNNERS! ✊ pic.twitter.com/khFYRUnSCy

&mdash; Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 28, 2024

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Key events

8 min Arsenal look to pass through midfield but again Everton close the gaps well, Catley opting to go long and her pass bouncing through to Brosnan.

6 min Now Everton move forward with the ball, Snoeijs winning it in midfield and finding Piemonte, but when it goes wide to Bissell she opts to turn back inside and the attack breaks down.

5 min Pelova holds on to the ball a second or two longer than is sensible, such that when she slides it outside her, Little is offside.

4 min That being the case, I’d expect to see Williamson moving forward with the ball to make the extra player in midfield; her quality in possession could make a crucial difference here.

3 min By the looks of things, Everton are playing 5-4-1, trying to stay close and compact from top to bottom and side to side.

1 min The away contingent are in decent voice and Pelova drives forward through midfield, finding Foord down the right … but her cross thunks into Brosnan’s midriff.

1 min Away we go!

The players take the knee. All Black lives matter.

The teams huddle, after which we’ll get going.

The teams are with us, Arsenal in their Aztec tribute tops.

Photograph: Lewis Storey/The FA/Getty Images

Eidevall says in any season there are positives and negatives, thanking the fans for their effort, while Brian Sørensen is looking forward to seeing how the Holmgaard twins perform in tandem,

Is Jonas Eidevall in trouble? It’s hard to blame the manager when any team in the world would miss Williamson, Miedema and Mead, but at the same time, should it have looked better than this? My sense is he’ll get another season, but he’ll need to incite a significant improvement.

Katie McCabe tells BBC that playing all over is just a regular season for her and injuries are a fact of football. Arsenal are really disappointed with how they started the season, their Champions-League exit in particular, but now they just want to finish the season well.

Walton Hall Park is sold out and the atmosphere is building; it looks a nice day but I bet it’s fresh as.

We’re going to miss her something fierce aren’t we?

Great news for Arsenal men. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Timber shapes up in England, and if he can reinvent himself as a a serious left-back he’ll make a massive difference.

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🚨 Jurrien Timber, once again, STARTS for the Arsenal U21s, as they travel to face Liverpool at AXA Training Centre this afternoon. 🇳🇱 #afc pic.twitter.com/dks8gfadxB

&mdash; afcstuff (@afcstuff) April 28, 2024

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Warm-up time 🕰️ #EVEARS pic.twitter.com/DO2hrQujKU

&mdash; Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) April 28, 2024

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I guess one of the problems Eidevall has is the number of brilliant attackers he has. Of course, it’s possible he knows more about football than I do, but I’d stick Miedema at the heart of my team and go from there – especially as his side lack a bit of pace through the middle.

I really hope Vivianne Miedema gets back to her best. We shouldn’t forget that even before her injury, Eidevall frequently picked Blackstenius ahead of her, but she’s a total genius and we need her.

Nothing to do with our game and yet everything to do with our game. Football is beautiful.

So where is the game? Everton will, I imagine, play five at the back, looking to give Arsenal bother with twin strikers, forcing Williamson and Catley to mark a player each. That’d mean onus on the full-backs to keep the width, given a narrow three in midfield, and that might run into trouble against Arsenal’s 4-4-2, the potential for overloads out wide set. But if Everton can win the numbers game in midfield, they can make this a tricky afternoon for the Gunners by keeping Mead – in particular – out of the game.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are unchanged following their 3-0 win over Leicester, and I’m not surprised. Beth Mead and Alessia Russo scored their goals that day, and if those two are firing, chances are the team is in decent nick.

Everton make three changes from the side that one at Brighton last week. Kathrine Moller Kuhl is, I think, injured, and is replaced by Emma Bissell; Hanna Bennison is also out, likewise Aurora Galli, with Dejana Stefanovic and Halldor Stenevik coming on.

Let’s have some teams!

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Today's Blues! 📋🔵#EVEARS #BarclaysWSL pic.twitter.com/ZIArMclaVN

&mdash; Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) April 28, 2024

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🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @leahcwilliamson in defence
🇮🇪 @Katie_McCabe11 at left back
🇸🇪 @SBlackstenius leads the line

COME ON YOU GUNNERS! ✊ pic.twitter.com/khFYRUnSCy

&mdash; Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 28, 2024

\n\n"}}” config=”{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false,"assetOrigin":"https://assets.guim.co.uk/"}”>

Preamble

It’s now or never isn’t it? With three games to go, Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal sit third, trailing leaders Manchester City – who they meet next weekend – by six points, with Chelsea splitting the two, sat halfway in between with a game in hand and a freshly aggravating grudge fuelling their sense of mission.

In theory, Everton should present few problems, four off the bottom and with only pride to play for. But the practicality is a little different, the Toffees an improving side who gave Arsenal problems when they met in January – and Chelsea in the Cup quarter, losing by the odd goal in both.

The Gunners, though, are starting to look a little bit more like their old selves. Beth Mead is back and scoring, Vivianne Miedema is getting closer, and Leah Williamson has re-ensconced at the back. That may come too late to save this season, but football being the never-ending continuum that it is, they’re also playing for next – and the chance to, perhaps, save a manager who is surely under pressure, by reminding people what they can do with their best players available.

Kick-off: 12.30pm

The Guardian