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Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers is expecting a tough game when her side travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Saturday.
The Toffees currently occupy ninth place in the Barclays Women’s Super League table but they grabbed the headlines last weekend as they won 1-0 at Chelsea, ending Blues boss Sonia Bompastor’s 31-game unbeaten run in league competition.
Everton have proved that they can mix it with the very best and Arsenal boss Slegers is not taking the Merseyside club lightly this weekend.
“I highly respect Everton and Brian [Sørensen] for the team they are,” Slegers said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “They’re a very unpredictable team. They can do different things, so it’s always, at the start of the game, having a good look at what their plan is and what their structure is and what they try to do.
“They’ve been extremely clinical from their transitions, so we have to manage that really well because we know the strength they have with the quality of players that can set it up and the quality of players that can finish it. They have quality and speed up top, so we’ll have to manage that really well. It’s one of their big weapons. If you look at the way they defended their last game when they got the 1-0 win, they defended for their lives in the box. The goalkeeper saves a lot of shots and moments, so we expect the same.
“I can imagine they take a lot of belief out of that performance. We expect a hard game against Everton. I think if you look at the Twente game, we might be asked similar questions or similar challenges, but I think the physicality, the tempo, I think they have a lot of threat on transition.”
Everton had to ride their luck against Chelsea last time out but Slegers believes that The Toffees’ luck was of their own making.
She said “The way they defended, they gave everything. They got some help from the posts and the crossbar and a ball bouncing on the line but they gave everything and I think they created it for themselves.
“They’re so clinical on the transition and you could see that in their game as well. I think Chelsea had a lot of moments in the box, passes in the box, finishes in the box, an incredible amount of shots. Like I said, Everton defended that well and they will take belief out of that performance. We will have to face that and let’s see. As I said, they are unpredictable, so let’s see what they will do against us.”
Everton have taken all of their points away from home so far. Slegers believes that it has been a case of fine lines back at Goodison Park.
She said “I’ve been watching the relevant games and I think it’s been close. I think a lot of games are close, it’s one goal differences. I think every team has their strengths and weaknesses. When they get to play to their strengths, then they can really bring something, that’s the same for every team, if you find a way to exploit their weaknesses, the opposition can do something.
“It’s been close in their games, I think the [Manchester] United game is a bigger score but the goals come late, they’re a good team. Like I said, I think it’s hard for every team to prepare for Everton because they’re unpredictable in the shape and structure, their personnel and all different things. I think they’re a really good team and I love them as well.”
Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Everton kicks-off at 12pm on Saturday afternoon.
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