🏏 Fri, 12 Sep 2025 19:30 BST
West Ham Women
vs
Arsenal Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- West Ham lead the line with Riko Ueki, 26, Japan's first-choice striker. She scored four goals at the U-17 World Cup and five at the U-20 World Cup on the way to the title, and finished as Japan's top scorer at the 2022 Asian Cup. Yu Endo, a right-back who made 171 appearances across 15 years at Urawa Reds Ladies, waits on the bench, giving the hosts a Japanese pair to call on.
- There is a strong Australian subplot. West Ham captain Katrina Gorry, 33, has more than 100 caps and was named AFC Player of the Year in 2014. Arsenal answer with left-back Steph Catley and right-sided attacker Caitlin Foord in the starting line-up, plus Kyra Cooney-Cross among the substitutes. Gorry and Foord share another link: both spent time at Vegalta Sendai Ladies in Japan.
- Closing the midfield gap is West Ham's biggest task. Arsenal build through 35-year-old captain Kim Little, a club legend whose technique and vision still dictate games, with Norway's Frida Maanum providing drive and a fierce shot from deeper. The hosts counter with Gorry's ball-winning and Oona Sillen, the 24-year-old Finn who won back-to-back Finnish championships with KuPS.
- Arsenal's front line is stacked with individual quality. Alessia Russo, famous for her backheel at EURO 2022, leads the line flanked by Mariona Caldentey, a 2023 World Cup winner after ten years at Barcelona, and Beth Mead, the golden boot winner at EURO 2022. West Ham's centre-back pairing brings its own pedigree: Shelina Zadorsky, a 100-cap Canadian with Rio bronze and Tokyo gold, alongside Finland's Eva Nystrom, who played over 100 matches for Hammarby.
- Arsenal hand a start to 18-year-old centre-back Katie Reid, an academy graduate tipped as a long-term successor to Leah Williamson and praised for her composure on the ball. Containing Ueki's movement in the box, and that of Shekiera Martinez, the Germany forward who top-scored at the 2018 UEFA U-17 Championship with nine goals, is a demanding early assignment.
- The goalkeeping duel is a study in contrasts. West Ham start Megan Walsh, 30, an Ireland international whose WSL career has taken in Brighton, Everton and Aston Villa and who was part of the 2023 World Cup squad. Arsenal field Daphne van Domselaar, 25, a Ballon d'Or nominee in 2023 who is comfortable sweeping behind a high line, with Austria's number one Manuela Zinsberger in reserve.
- Left-footed delivery could decide the tight moments. Katie McCabe, the Ireland captain, attacks from the left for Arsenal and ranks among the league's best crossers and set-piece takers, with Catley's accurate left foot behind her. West Ham's left belongs to Verena Hanshaw, an Austria international with over 100 caps who was named in the EURO 2017 Team of the Tournament and delivers from the same side.
- Alongside Ueki, West Ham carry the experience of Viviane Asseyi, a France international with more than 60 caps who arrived after spells at Bayern Munich and Montpellier and was voted Hammer of the Year for 2024-25. Her direct opponent is USA right-back Emily Fox, 27, a college team-mate of Russo and Lotte Wubben-Moy at North Carolina, whose pace and workrate should make that flank a recurring battleground.
- Arsenal's bench carries the greater threat. Olivia Smith, the 21-year-old Canada international who became the first million-pound signing in women's football, sits alongside Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius and Spain's 2023 World Cup-winning centre-back Laia Codina. West Ham reply with 19-year-old Swiss forward Leila Wandeler, a Lyon academy product, Seraina Piubel, a four-time Swiss champion with FC Zurich, and Wales forward Ffion Morgan, capped over 50 times.