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WSL final-day preview: Arsenal v United Women
Friday 09 May 2025 16:23
Our Barclays Women’s Super League campaign concludes with a final-day trip to Arsenal this Saturday (10 May), a clash that will decide which of the two teams finishes the season second in the table.
The Gunners currently hold that post ahead of the 12:30 BST kick-off at the Emirates Stadium, but United are just a point and a place behind in third, so leapfrogging our hosts is possible with a win.
Both clubs are already assured of a top-three spot and, with it, a place in next term’s UEFA Women’s Champions League but can secure a later entry into the 2025/26 European competition this weekend.
That’s because the side that ends the WSL season in second will be due to begin at the League Path’s final qualifying round in September, one stage after August’s second qualifying round, the entrance point for the third-place finisher.
So, while continental qualification may be wrapped up, there’s still plenty to play for as we head to the capital! Here’s everything you need to know before the first kick…
HOW TO WATCH AND FOLLOW
Tickets within our away allocation are now off sale, but supporters in the UK can watch every minute of the action on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Across our global platforms, we’ll have live radio commentary for you on ManUtd.com, along with the team news an hour before kick-off, regular updates and exclusive post-match interviews in the United App.
Highlights will then be available to view across our channels from 12:00 BST on Sunday.
TEAM NEWS
United will be without full-back Jayde Riviere and centre-forward Rachel Williams for the journey down south, although head coach Marc Skinner has ruled neither player out of the following weekend’s FA Cup final.
Riviere has been suffering from “irritation in her ankle” since suffering the nasty looking knock to it that forced her off in the first half of last Sunday’s Old Trafford derby, while Williams is currently being assessed after missing the City clash and the narrow defeat to Chelsea four days earlier.
On the Arsenal side of things, boss Renee Slegers has confirmed that goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar’s recent absence will continue, while Lina Hurtig and Katie Reid will also not be available.
Hurtig is one of three players, alongside Teyah Goldie and Amanda Ilestedt, that the Gunners announced earlier this week will leave the club in the summer upon the expiry of their contracts.
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OPPOSITION REPORT
Like Skinner’s side, Saturday’s hosts also have the opportunity to round out 2024/25 with a trophy after this weekend’s WSL concluder, as they face Barcelona in the Champions League final on 24 May. Victory in Lisbon would also see them bypass the qualifying rounds for next term’s tournament and go straight into the centrepiece 18-team league phase.
While progressing continentally this season, a near-perfect run of 13 wins in Slegers’s first 15 league games in charge saw the Gunners assert themselves as a top-three outfit in the WSL, but they have had a little stutter domestically since their impressive European semi-final win over French outfit Lyon, conceding five and four in recent defeats at Aston Villa and Brighton respectively.
The first of those losses all but ended their faint hopes of overhauling runaway leaders Chelsea at the top, hours before the Blues wrapped up the title, while the second has left the runners-up spot in the table up for grabs going into our final-day showdown.
Several players could also secure individual accolades in the lunchtime kick-off, including former United striker Alessia Russo, whose 12 WSL goals this campaign mean she’s a joint-leader in the race for the division’s Golden Boot ahead of the final round of matches. The England international is tied with Man City’s Khadija Shaw at present.
Russo was named the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year this week.
DID YOU KNOW?
No player has been involved in more WSL goals this season than Elisabeth Terland (14 – nine goals, five assists) with her 14 goal involvements already at least five more than any other player has recorded in their debut Women’s Super League campaign for Manchester United (Lucia Garcia – nine in 2022/23 being the closest).
Stat courtesy of Opta.
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Highlights: United Women v Arsenal
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ELSEWHERE IN THE WSL
All six matches on the final day kick off at 12:30 BST, with the full schedule below. At Kingsmeadow, Chelsea will be looking to complete an unbeaten campaign for the second time in the last six seasons, when they host Liverpool.
SATURDAY 10 MAY
Arsenal v UNITED
Aston Villa v Brighton
Chelsea v Liverpool
Everton v Spurs
Leicester v West Ham
Man City v Crystal Palace
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Friday 09 May 2025 16:23
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