FAWSL 2018/19: Arsenal Women vs Chelsea Women

Arsenal Women surrendered top spot after a 2-1 defeat to champions Chelsea Women on Saturday. Manchester City Women are now top after beating West Ham Women 3-1, but Arsenal sit just a point behind in second with a game in hand.

The defeat was Arsenal’s first at home since 2016. But for Chelsea, it was their 13^th consecutive win. So how did they get the better of Arsenal? I’ll tell you in my tactical analysis of the match.

Chelsea Women stifle Arsenal Women

It’s no secret that Joe Montemurro’s arrival at Arsenal has brought a certain possession-based style which sees them play out from the back often. However, with injuries mounting up, that’s been hard to maintain of late.

Chelsea came into the game knowing this and were able to stifle Arsenal throughout. Emma Hayes’ side were on the front foot both off and on the ball for most of the game. The most important part of that, however, was off the ball. This saw them disrupt Arsenal’s play before they could build attacks, as seen below.

Similar to West Ham last week, this gave Arsenal trouble to create a rhythm. Overall that was seen as Chelsea had more of the ball and limited Arsenal to just three shots in the game.

Chelsea Women win the battle of space

Being the dominant side on the day, Chelsea controlled almost every aspect of play. Another important part of this was the spaces they picked up.