Key events
45 min Four minutes of added time. Only one team wants to hear the whistle – Arsenal’s pressure has been relentless in the last 10 or 15 minutes.
44 min Chelsea have forgotten how to kepe the ball. It’s all a bit strange because they were imperious for the first 20 minutes.
42 min “Any news of Leah Williamson, whose presence Arsenal are clearly missing?” asks Jeremy Boyce.
She’s back in training but nowhere near a return – I think Arsenal are hoping she’ll be available before the winter break.
41 min Hampton is okay to continue.
40 min Hampton needs treatment after diving bravely at the feet of Blackstenius. The camera cuts to Emma Hayes and Vic Akers, two giants of the women’s game, in the crowd.
37 min Blackstenius tries to place one from 15 yards. Comfortable save for Hampton as she falls to her right.
Bright loses the ball high up the field to Russo, who squares it to Caldentey on the edge of the area. Her shot is tame and Hampton makes another comfortable save. But things are happening for Arsenal. Things.
36 min Bright and Hampton leave the ball for each other on the edge of the Chelsea area. Blackstenius is on the scene quicksmart and Bright has to make a desperate lunging tackle.
34 min Out of nothing, Chelsea almost make it 2-0. Bronze chests down a throw-in on the edge of the area, realises nobody is coming to challenge and floats a shot towards the far post with her left foot. It beats Van Domselaar and whistles just wide.
31 min Foord’s cross is booted away by Bjorn, but right now the ball keeps coming back at Chelsea. Moments later Bjorn makes a vital tackle in the area after being twisted inside-out by Blackstenius. Fine defending.
27 min Hampton looks witheringly at Charles (I think) after slicing an awkward backpass straight out of play. Arsenal are definitely growing into the game.
25 min It’s a more even game now, with Arsenal starting to find some passing rhythm.
22 min Better from Arsenal. Foord wriggles away from Bronze in the area before playing a square pass to the onrushing Caldentey. She tries to take the ball in her stride but is superbly tracked by Cuthbert, who slides it behind for a corner.
21 min A slightly calmer period for the Arsenal defence. And for all Chelsea’s brilliance, it’s still only 1-0.
18 min I can’t remember Mariona Caldentey touching the ball, which tells you all you need to know about the balance of play.
16 min Van Domselaar should have done better with Macario’s original shot but recovered admirably to save Kaptein’s follow-up.
15 min: Macario hits the bar!
How the flip did that stay out? Macario totally ignored a physical challenge from Wubben-Moy and blasted a shot from the edge of the area. Van Domselaar pushed it up in the air and onto the top of the crossbar, after which the ball dropped invitingly front of goal. Kaptein’s flying header was pawed away by Van Domselaar and somehow Arsenal got the ball away. Wow.
13 min Mead’s corner is shanked towards her own goal by Cuthbert and pushed away by Hampton, a good instinctive save. The ball rebounds to Russo, whose fierce snapshot is crucially blocked.
13 min Blackstenius surges down the left to win Arsenal’s first corner – a much needed shift in momentum, however small.
12 min That was such a good finish from Thompson. She had stopped running, which meant she had no momentum to put into a drive (the return pass was very slow). Instead she composed herself in a split-second and floated the most delicate first-time shot over Van Domselaar.
11 min Arsenal may have to change something, even at this early stage, because they’re being swamped in midfield.
It’s Thompson’s first goal in the WSL. She received the ball just short of the halfway line, gobbled up 50 yards with a driving run and lent the ball to Rytting Kaneryd on the right side of the area. She pushed it back to Thompson, who curled a majestic chip from the edge of the area that sailed slowly over Van Domselaar and into the far corner.
The Arsenal players got straight into a huddle after the goal – not to discuss the goal itself so much as why they are being completely overrun.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea (Thompson 9)
A brilliant goal from Alyssa Thompson gives Chelsea a deserved lead!
9 min Arsenal need to get a foothold in the game; Chelsea are strutting around the Emirates like they own the place.
7 min Cuthbert, 20 yards form goal, hooks a bouncing ball over the bar. Decent effort but Van Domselaar’s heart rate was unaffected.
6 min “This is indeed a biggie, as you say Rob; it’s hard to see Arsenal getting much out of the league unless they step up a couple of notches and beat Chelsea,” writes Charles Antaki. “Obviously being at home helps (though it hasn’t in the past), but the continued absence of Leah Williamson is, everybody concedes, a serious handicap. But if they pull it off, then extra plaudits and huzzahs.”
5 min Rytting Kaneryd has a shot blocked after a good left-to-right move from Chelsea. They’ve started with authority.
4 min Chelsea have an injury concern over Nathalie Bjorn. She’s had treatment and is going to carry on for now.
2 min: Rytting Kaneryd hits the post!
Chelsea almost make the perfect start. Bronze feeds a pass into Macario, who turns it cleverly round the corner towards Rytting Kaneryd. She pokes the ball past the outrushing Van Domselaar and it hits the face of the near post. The rebound could have gone anywhere but Arsenal were able to get it away.
1 min Peep peep! Chelsea kick off from right to left as we watch.
Ahead of Remembrance Day, wreaths have been laid in the centre circle at the Emirates and The Last Post is being performed.
And of Sonia Bompastor
It’s a huge occasion, one of the best games in women’s football in the world. We can’t wait to be on the pitch with a great atmosphere. This is one of the best weeks we’ve had since I became manager of Chelsea. If we can do on the pitch what we did in training this week, it’ll be a good thing.
The pre-match thoughts of Renee Slegers
Every game has its story, every game demands a certain preparation. We try to keep as many things the same as possible. The players have been working really hard – I’m happy it’s matchday now.
The WSL table at the start of play
Arsenal’s Taylor Hinds chats to Suzanne Wrack
This is the type of team that I want to be in. I have the utmost respect for Liverpool for everything they’ve done for me over the five years. There’s a little part of me that’s always going to love Liverpool. So many of my friends are still up there, scousers are just one of a kind too, and I definitely miss that side of it, the people, but I’m also loving it here and I’m really thriving and happy.
The difference is just the standard, the intensity and the quality. Everything’s so fast-paced and training every day is like playing in a game every day. That’s what you want: you want to train how you play and here I get to do that with world-class players and learn from them.
Team news
Plenty of changes for both teams from last week’s victories over Leicester and London City Lionesses respectively. Arsenal bring in Emily Fox, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Victoria Pelova for Taylor Hinds, Laia Codina and the injured Kim Little.
Chelsea bring in Niamn Charles, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Wieke Kaptein, Catarina Macario and Alyssa Thompson. Out go Ellie Carpenter, Sjoeke Nusken, Sandy Baltimore, Aggie Beever-Jones and Guro Reiten.
Arsenal (4-4-2) Van Domselaar; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley, McCabe; Mead, Caldentey, Pelova, Foord; Russo, Blackstenius.
Substitutes: Borbe, Codina, Maanum, Smith, Kelly, Nighswonger, Hinds, Cooney-Cross, Harwood.
Chelsea (possible 4-2-3-1) Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Bjorn, Charles; Walsh, Cuthbert; Rytting Kaneryd, Kaptein, Thompson; Macario.
Substitutes: Peng, Carpenter, Buurman, Nusken, Girma, Baltimore, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois
Manchester United v Aston Villa also kicks off at midday. We’ll have goalflashes from that game; just don’t expect chapter on verse on whether United are playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3.
Preamble
Hello, hello and welcome to live coverage of one of the games of any WSL season. Arsenal v Chelsea is a biggie at the best of times, never mind when it’s the champions of Europe vs the champions of England – and both teams unashamedly cover their neighbour’s titles.
It’s a bigger game for Arsenal, whose hopes of winning the WSL title will be imperilled should they lose today. They’re already five points behind Chelsea after seven games; and while that is largely down to a tough run of fixtures, they can’t afford the gap to widen to eight points.
Chelsea, chasing a seventh league title in a row, keep rolling on; their only dropped points so far came at Manchester United. But they know the threat that Arsenal pose – two seasons ago Chelsea were stuffed 4-1 at the Emirates. And, as they know too well, Arsenal are the current European champions.
Kick-off 12pm GMT.
