BREAKING: Jubilation at Emirates stadium as Arsenal awarded Premier League trophy after Man City was found guilty for breaching FIFA rules- Congratulations to Arsenal fans
Arsenal won their final pre-season friendly 3-0 away to Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.
It was the final rehearsal game before the Champions League qualifying round starts on Wednesday at Meadow Park against Rangers.
Jonas Eidevall used all his players available on the day, making nine changes at half-time to prevent overloading four days before the first game.
Having a proper pre-season this year has allowed the team to grow and get the right preparation for the UEFA Women’s Champions League, as getting to the Group Stage is a must for an ambitious team like Arsenal.
Here is how they lined up:
Zinsberger (Williams, 73), Fox (Wienroither, 46), Williamson (Codina, 46), Reid (Junaid, 87), McCabe (Harbert, 46), Cooney-Cross (Wälti, 46), Little (Kühl, 46), Maanum (Kafaji, 46), Foord (Lia, 46), Russo (Blackstenius, 46 (Godfrey, 66)), Mariona (Agyemang, 46).
Note that the Blackstenius substitution was pre-planned, and her return to fitness from injury explains why she only played 20 minutes.
Looking at the pre-season minutes as a whole, as well as how the team shaped up and took care of the players coming back from the Olympics, this is the starting XI that could play against Rangers:
Zinsberger; Fox, Williamson, Wubben-Moy or Catley or Reid, McCabe; Little, Cooney-Cross or Kühl or Wälti; Mead or Foord, Kafaji or Maanum, Caldentey; Russo.
The main question mark is about the injured Catley, Wubben-Moy, and Mead, because two of those three would be starters.
Should both Catley and Wubben-Moy be out, I would expect Reid to start ahead of Codina considering the current form of the young centre-back.
