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Women's Super League | Gameweek 2
Sep 12, 2021 at 2pm UK
 

Reading Women
0 - 4
Arsenal Women


Rowe (23')
FT(HT: 0-3)
Beattie (17'), Mead (30'), Miedema (32', 50')
McCabe (84')

Preview: Reading Women vs. Arsenal Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Women's Super League clash between Reading Women and Arsenal Women, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Reading Women welcome Arsenal Women to the Select Car Leasing stadium in the Women's Super League on Sunday, with the away side aiming to continue their perfect start to the season.

The hosts need to bounce back after an opening day defeat, but they come up against an Arsenal side which is high in confidence after Champions League qualification.


Match preview

Reading Women manager Kelly Chambers pictured in March 2021© Reuters

Kelly Chambers's side kicked off the new WSL season under the lights at Leigh Sports Village last Friday evening, but they could not come away from Manchester with any points on the table.

Kirsty Hanson opened the scoring for Manchester United just before half time, and then Ona Batlle completed the job for the home side nine minutes after the restart, with no reply from the Royals.

Reading did not officially register a single shot on target last week, but they did have a strike which was deemed to have not crossed the line when it seemingly did ruled out, and Chambers is confident that Reading can give Arsenal a tougher test on Sunday.

Prior to the meeting with the Gunners, Chambers said that her side just need to focus on themselves to ensure a tough task for their visitors, who are in fine form after Champions League success.

Arsenal Ladies forward Vivianne Miedema pictured in August 2020© Reuters

Jonas Eidevall's side began their WSL campaign with a tricky test against champions Chelsea at the Emirates, but Arsenal demonstrated their intentions for the season, beating Emma Hayes's side 3-2.

The Gunners never fell behind in that game, with a strike from Vivianne Miedema and a brace from Beth Mead enough to see off Chelsea, in what was a big fixture in the context of the title race, even though it came so early on in the season.

All-time top WSL goalscorer, Miedema, was the star of the show in midweek for Arsenal, who qualified for the Champions League group stages, and the Dutch striker netted her 100th goal for the club, having only made 110 appearances.

Eidevall's team faced Slavia Prague in the second leg of the final qualifying round on Thursday, already holding a 3-0 advantage from the first leg, and Miedema scored a 12-minute hat-trick before Kim Little finished the game off after 76 minutes.

Arsenal's group stage opponents will be drawn on Monday, and they are in pot two alongside Lyon, Wolfsburg and Breidablik, with one team from each pot being drawn into a group of four - the new format for the Women's Champions League.

These two sides last met in January and played out a 1-1 draw, which was a much-improved result for Reading, who last season lost 6-1 against Arsenal on the opening day.

Reading Women Women's Super League form:
  • L

Arsenal Women Women's Super League form:
  • W

Arsenal Women form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W



Team News

Jonas Eidevall, now in charge of Arsenal Women, pictured in 2019© Reuters

Reading lined up in a 4-3-3 formation against Man United, with Gemma Evans, Faye Bryson and Chloe Peplow among the starters that earned their full competitive debut for the club.

Young striker Emma Harries led the line for the Royals, with Amalie Eikeland and captain Natasha Harding either side of the forward, offering the width for Chambers's side.

Brooke Chaplen, Peplow and Rachel Rowe made up the midfield three last Friday, and the Royals could line up with the same 11 as there are no new injury updates in the camp.

Eidevall made five changes to the side which started against Slavia Prague on Thursday from the team which beat Chelsea, but he is expected to name the same lineup which earned three points last weekend.

Miedema continues to be Arsenal's main striker as she breaks records at the club, and Arsenal's attacking threat is amplified with Mead down the right wing.

Leah Williamson and Jennifer Beattie will be the visitors' centre-back pairing, with Little, Lia Walti and Frida Maanum in front of them as the midfield three.

Reading Women possible starting lineup:
Moloney; Bryson, Cooper, Evans, Woodham; Rowe, Peplow, Chaplen; Harding, Harries, Eikeland

Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:
Zinsberger; McCabe, Beattie, Williamson, Maritz; Maanum, Little, Walti; Iwabuchi, Miedema, Mead


SM words green background

We say: Reading Women 0-3 Arsenal Women

There seems to be no stopping Arsenal at the moment, with the Champions League qualifiers allowing the side to build momentum right at the start of the season.

Reading will be no walkover with the quality they have in their squad. However, Arsenal are in good goalscoring form and it will be difficult for the home side to show any response with the dominance expected from the Gunners.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Arsenal Women win with a probability of 80.23%. A draw had a probability of 12.9% and a win for Reading Women had a probability of 6.91%.

The most likely scoreline for an Arsenal Women win was 0-2 with a probability of 11.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (10.97%) and 0-1 (8.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.07%), while for a Reading Women win it was 1-0 (2.2%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Arsenal Women would win this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Reading Women vs Arsenal Women

Reading Women
0.0%
Draw
0.0%
Arsenal Women
100%
5
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Reading Women manager Kelly Chambers pictured in March 2021
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