🏏 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 12:45 BST
Arsenal Women
vs
Birmingham City W
4-2-3-1 vs 4-4-1-1
Substitutes
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Match Preview
- Arsenal sit 10th on five points from five matches, with one win, two draws and two defeats and a goal difference of -2. Birmingham are 13th on two points, still searching for a first win after two draws and three losses. With Manchester City on 15 points and Chelsea on 13 already, Arsenal need three points at home before the gap at the top becomes unmanageable.
- Arsenal opened with a 1-0 win at Brighton, but were then held at home by Crystal Palace (0-0) and Manchester United (1-1) in successive weeks. Back-to-back away defeats followed, 1-0 at Chelsea and 4-2 at Manchester City. Four goals in five matches is the clearest statement of where their problem lies.
- Birmingham have actually outscored their hosts, seven goals to Arsenal's four, but 12 conceded is the main reason the promoted side are 13th. They drew 2-2 with Brighton and 3-3 with Crystal Palace at home before losing 2-1 at Everton last time out. Tightening up at the back is the precondition for a first WSL win.
- Alessia Russo, the 27-year-old England striker whose backheel at Euro 2022 became an instant classic, leads the line. Behind her are Sweden's Stina Blackstenius, 30, a powerful aerial presence in the box, and Canada's Olivia Smith, 22, who arrived via Liverpool and Sporting CP as the first £1 million transfer in women's football.
- Three summer free transfers start together for Arsenal. Georgia Stanway returns to the WSL after four years at Bayern Munich, having previously made her name at Manchester City. Ona Batlle is back in England following three seasons at Manchester United and three at Barcelona. In goal, Misa Rodríguez brings 215 appearances for Real Madrid, more than any player in the club's history, plus a 2023 World Cup winner's medal with Spain.
- The centre of Arsenal's defence pairs England captain Leah Williamson, 29, with academy product Lotte Wubben-Moy, a left-footed 178cm centre-back of 27. At right-back is 20-year-old Smilla Holmberg, signed from BK Häcken in January 2026 and Sweden's youngest squad member at Euro 2025 — a blend of seasoned leadership and youth for Birmingham's forwards to probe.
- Arsenal's 4-2-3-1 is built on the double pivot of Stanway and Kyra Cooney-Cross, the 24-year-old left-footed Australia international valued for her passing tempo and pressing intensity. Birmingham answer with a 5-3-2 that packs the middle, anchored by Norway's box-to-box midfielder Lisa Naalsund, 31, who won back-to-back Norwegian titles with SK Brann.
- Two Japanese players start in Birmingham's midfield three. Asato Miyagawa, 28, came through Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza and moved to England via Hammarby in Sweden. Suzu Amano, 22, went from INAC Kobe Leonessa to Hammarby and then Växjö, signing permanently in August 2026, and was part of the Japan squad that finished runners-up at the 2022 U-20 Women's World Cup. The former Hammarby team-mates are reunited here.
- Birmingham's front two arrive from very different routes. Océane Hurtré, born in 2004, is a 167cm forward with French top-flight experience at Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux. Her strike partner Crosthwaite came in from Durham in the English second tier and was a key scorer in the WSL2 title run, now facing a top-flight centre-back pairing of a different order.
- Birmingham's back five has a distinctly international look. Left-sided Marie Levasseur joined from Montpellier in July 2026, a Canada international with 63 appearances across three seasons in France and 18 caps since her senior debut in 2015. Millie Turner, 30, offers 178cm of aerial strength after years at Manchester United, while 29-year-old Sophie Baggaley, who has WSL experience with Bristol City, takes the gloves.