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Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers is well-aware of the threats that this weekend’s opponents Brighton & Hove Albion pose and says that her side must stay humble going into the game.
The Gunners travel to Broadfield Stadium to take on The Seagulls on Sunday afternoon.
Arsenal were defeated 4-2 by Brighton & Hove Albion in Crawley last term while the Sussex side only went down 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the first half of this season. When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Slegers highlighted the dangers posed by Brighton & Hove Albion and said that her side must go into the game with respect.
“They’ve had a challenging run, but I think they’re a good team,” Slegers said. “Last year, away at Crawley wasn’t a good performance from us and we lost that game. We know what they can do and we know that we have to [perform] again.
“We have to be really humble for the task because it won’t be easy with the circumstances, the conditions, the way Brighton play, certain threats that they have. We really are going to have to work hard to nullify that and believe in the strengths that we have, the strengths that we possess to overcome those challenges.”
Brighton & Hove Albion have players that can make things happen and can implement a range of tactics. Slegers admits that The Seagulls can be unpredictable but Arsenal need to control the controllables.
She said “It’s for us to create our own guarantees and our own known, that’s what we can do and stacking good, humble actions on the pitch. We’ll have to do those things with the conditions and the type of game it will be. It’s going to be so important for us.
“The unknown will be there because I think Brighton are a really good team with lots of rotations and ideas in possession. They have an aggressive press. Last time around when we played them away, they did something completely different, so we’ll see what their game plan is for Sunday. We have to focus on ourselves and the things that we need to do regardless of the scenario and that will guarantee things for us, so that’s within our control.”
Arsenal forward Rosa Kafaji is on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion and Slegers is pleased with how the Swede has performed during her time away from North London.
She said “It’s been good to see her, I think she’s found her feet at Brighton. She’s also created those partnerships around her. She’s playing a really important role for them at the moment. It’s really good to see her play, brilliant.”
Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 2.30pm on Sunday.
