Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says that being well-prepared for a variety scenarios is key to his side collecting three points from Birmingham City at the St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium this weekend.
The Gunners take on the Blues in a ‘top versus bottom’ clash in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League on Sunday.
Birmingham City are yet to win a match in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League this season but they have tried to attack and play football under the guidance of recently-appointed interim head coach Darren Carter. When speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Eidevall said that his side must be prepared to face an attack-minded Birmingham City team but equally, they must also be ready to break the Blues down if they implement a more ugly game.
“We need to focus on our game and the strengths that we can impose on the opposition,” Eidevall told FAWSL Full-Time in his pre-match press conference. “We need to prepare for the game so that if they are pressing us high, we have an answer for that and if they are sitting back, playing a bit lower and being more compact, we need an answer for that.
“They have obviously had a lot of time practising now so they should have a really good game plan but we will hopefully be ready for that.”
Discussing Birmingham City further, Eidevall said that the players look to be invested in new interim head coach Carter’s playing style and he acknowledged that they seem to be working hard to turn their season around.
He said “We have watched them play against Manchester City and Leicester and they are playing in a very clear way, they have big belief in how they are playing and they are a hard working team.
“For us, we are going into this game with the utmost respect and we also understand that we have been away at Christmas and we have only had a week of practice together so for any team, this game comes at a difficult time. We just need to be as prepared as possible so that we can get a good start in the second half of the season.”
The Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture between Birmingham City and Arsenal kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the game from the ticket office or are available online by clicking here.