Arsenal return to action on this evening in the Continetal Cup after the international break when they take on London City Lionesses at Princes Park.

Both teams go into the game searching for their first win in the group after Arsenal fell to a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea last time out and London City Lionesses were beaten 4-0 by the Gunners north London rival’s Tottenham Hotspur.

Team News:

Joe Montemurro could make changes with one eye on Manchester United this coming Sunday, Lydia Williams could make her debut in goal for the Gunners after returning from injury.

Kim Little who is also back from injury could also get some crucial minutes under her belt as could Jill Roord who returned to training before the international break.

Beth Mead could start as the main striker with Vivianne Miedema rested and Leah Williamson could also be rested with Lotte Wubben-Moy and Viktoria Schnaderbeck taking up the centre-back role.

London City Lionesses won 4-1 last time out against Leicester City on Sunday which was a superb result and that will boost them going into this match.

Atlanta Primus scored a brace and Ellie Mason and Lily Agg added to that in what turned out to be a comfortable win for the Lionesses.

When they last met:

Arsenal met London City Lionesses in last year’s Continetal Cup with the Gunners winning 5-0 away from home.

Beth Mead scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 win at Princes Park as Lia Walti was named in the starting eleven for the first time since suffering a knee ligament injury in January 2018 after 252 days out of action.

Mead opened the scoring, plucking the ball out of the air before weaving past two defenders and firing into the root of the net.

Roord who pulled the strings in midfield throughout the game , then went on to fire a stunning strike into the top-left corner for her second goal as an Arsenal player since joining from Bayern Munich during that summer

It was then 3-0 when Danielle van de Donk drifted into the area and teed up Emma Mitchell, who applied the finishing touch to a wonderful team move at the far post.

No sooner than the Lionesses could regroup, Mead made it four by fizzing an effort into the bottom left corner and 10 minutes from time she completed her hat-trick, firing a deflected effort past Lucy Thomas in the Lionesses goal on the turn.

Potential match winners:

Beth Mead - Mead could start in the number 9 postion and she has a good record against London City Lionesses scoring a hat-trick last time out against them.

Mead has had an outstanding start to the season scoring once and claiming 5 assists, she has always excelled in the Continetal Cup and this game could be no different if she starts in the number 9 postion ahead of Miedema.

Danielle van de Donk - van de Donk has been on top form of late and impressed once again over the International break for her country as she scored three goals in two games.

When she has played higher up the pitch she has always done well and this game could be no different with her confidence high. She could exploit the space in the London City Lionesses defence with her passing and that could see Arsenal in amongst the goals.

Annie Rossiter - Rossiter made her first start for London City Lionesses on Sunday against the Foxes and really impressed.

She is learning with every game that she plays and will learn from playing against some of the best footballers in the world.

She has plenty of energy and could be a key player in the game for the Lionesses.

Grace Neville- London City Lionesses are expected to have to do a lot of defending and Neville will be key to that.

She has also played for Arsenal Women in their academy and may have a point to prove against the Gunners.

The 20-year-old has impressed this season and will be expected to defend more than usual against a Gunners side who are in real goalscoring form.

Whats been said:

London City Lionesses boss Melissa Phillips is looking forward to the game and she said: “It’s a good opportunity for us to test ourselves from a competitive standpoint. It’ll be great to play an opponent of such quality and we will have to bring our best game.

“We’ll prepare ourselves for their attacking threats and their ability to score goals. But, something we speak about a lot in meetings and in training is that we have to be difficult to break down and difficult to play against and that has to do with how hard we work, our competitive mindset, our response to situations.

“The focus won’t be on as much who they’re going to have out or what it’s going to look like, but how we’re going to counteract some of their attacking movement.”

How to watch:

The game won’t be available to watch live but will be available to watch on the FA player after the final whistle.