Arsenal Women v Chelsea Women: Jonas Eidevall’s side target first trophy since 2019
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Jonas Eidevall hopes to win his first trophy as Arsenal manager by ending Chelsea’s five-game winning run in all competitions
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has called on his players to have “belief and optimism” as he targets his first trophy in England and a first for the club since they won the Women’s Super League in 2019.
The Gunners have not beaten Chelsea in five attempts since the opening day of the 2021-22 season – Eidevall’s first WSL match – in the League Cup final at a sold-out Selhurst Park.
“If you want to be imprisoned by your mindset by saying ‘that’s going to be hard, that’s going to be difficult’, then it will be,” said Eidevall, whose side are five points behind Chelsea in the league and lost 2-0 to the reigning top-flight champions in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.
“You need to have that belief and optimism that things can change, you can learn and develop. Just because it happened one way yesterday, it can be different tomorrow if you’re working towards making it different – so that’s what we’re aiming for.”
Last season’s final set an attendance record for the competition of 8,004 when Chelsea lost to Manchester City at Plough Lane – and more than 20,000 fans will watch Emma Hayes’ side attempt to go one better at Crystal Palace’s home.
Blues boss Emma Hayes is targeting her 12th major trophy with Chelsea and a third League Cup triumph. “We like playing in front of a crowd and I’m just looking forward to competing for one of the first available trophies this year,” she said.
“I don’t own a medal cabinet – it wouldn’t last too long with my son in the house,” added Hayes. “Winning is about the people and the memories you create from that. I’m interested in making more memories.
“Preparing the players as best as possible felt a lot easier this week because we had everybody there. The players trained smart and took on the tactical details without interrupting too much of the flow.”
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Arsenal remain without Best Fifa awards runner-up Beth Mead and Women’s Super League all-time top scorer Vivianne Miedema, both of whom are long-term absentees through ACL injuries.
Forward Lina Hurtig is in contention to feature and goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo will be assessed as both players sustained injuries during the February international break.
Emma Hayes’ Chelsea side has no new injuries following victory over Arsenal in the last Sunday.
Attacker Pernille Harder is recovering from hamstring surgery she had in November, while Katerina Svitkova had a knee operation in February.
MATCH FACTSHead-to-head
Arsenal
Chelsea
MOST RECENT MEETING
Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal (FA Cup, 26 February)