Arsenal vs Lyon – News and Probable Lineups

Arsenal Women will host Lyon Women at the Emirates Stadium this Sunday for the first leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final.

The current European champions triumphed over Chelsea in the previous round, while Lyon advanced following their quarter-final win against Wolfsburg.

Match overview

Arsenal are the only remaining team in the competition that ended the league phase outside of the top four.

After finishing fifth, the Gunners comfortably secured a 7-1 win over Leuven in the knockout round playoffs, setting up an all-English quarter-final against Chelsea.

Renee Slegers’s side achieved a 3-1 victory in the home leg and, despite conceding late in the second game, a 1-0 loss at Stamford Bridge did not stop them from reaching their ninth European semi-final.

However, Arsenal then suffered an unexpected 2-0 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup quarter-finals, cutting their chances of winning the competition for the first time since 2015-16.

With ample time during the international break to move past that setback, the Gunners are now focused on replicating last season’s UWCL semi-final win over Lyon, where they overturned a first-leg deficit with an impressive 4-1 victory in France.

The Gunners will need to secure their first-ever home win against Lyon if they aim to gain an advantage in the first leg.

Lyon, on the other hand, are eager to rectify the disappointments of last year’s semi-final as they pursue their ninth Women’s Champions League title.

Unlike Arsenal, the French side went straight to the quarter-finals after completing the league phase in second place, tied on points with top-ranked Barcelona.

Jonatan Giraldez’s team experienced a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their quarter-final matchup against Wolfsburg, leaving them with a challenge in the return game earlier this month.

Lily Yohannes netted the only goal during regulation time in the second leg, and Lyon scored three against a fatigued Wolfsburg in extra time to reach the semi-finals for the 15th time in their history.

Having already clinched the French League Cup, Lyon preserved their quadruple aspirations with a commanding 6-0 victory over Strasbourg in the Coupe de França semi-finals earlier this month. They came back from the international break with a decisive 4-0 win in Wednesday’s Ligue 1 match against Dijon.

Lyon will be confident entering Sunday’s fixture, considering they have triumphed in their last five away matches against Arsenal, including a 2-1 win in their earlier league phase encounter in October.

Team News

Arsenal defender Steph Catley remains out due to a calf strain, while Kyra Cooney-Cross and Beth Mead are unavailable for personal reasons.

Leah Williamson is back in contention after recovering from injury during Inglaterra’s World Cup qualifying victory over Islândia.

The tournament’s leading scorer, Alessia Russo, is expected to play a pivotal role, having found the net eight times in 10 UWCL appearances this season.

In contrast, Lyon will continue to miss long-term absentee Liana Joseph, who has not played since suffering a significant knee injury in October’s match against Arsenal.

Christiane Endler, Ingrid Engen, Kadidiatou Diani, and Ada Hegerberg are set to return to the starting XI after being rested for the midweek league match.

Selma Bacha and Melchie Dumornay are likely to recover from the injuries that sidelined them from international duty during the recent international break.

Arsenal Women probable starting XI:

Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, McCabe; Caldentey, Little; Smith, Russo, Foord; Blackstenius

Lyon Women probable starting XI:

Endler; Lawrence, Sombath, Renard, Bacha; Schrader, Heaps, Yohannes; Diani, Brand, Hegerberg

This upcoming contest is anticipated to be tightly contested between two top-tier teams, which leads us to believe that the first leg could result in a narrow outcome.

We predict the result might favor Lyon, given their history of successful away performances against Arsenal.