Last Sunday, Arsenal Women faced Chelsea Women in a preseason match that concluded our Gunners’ US tour. There were many takeaways from that game (which unfortunately ended in a 1-0 Chelsea victory).
One observation from the game was that Lia Walti is back in shape and ready to go. Since mid-March, the Swiss midfielder has been unavailable for selection. For the past five months, she has been working hard to recuperate from a knee injury she sustained during Arsenal training.
Over the summer, she regarded her rehabilitation period as difficult, but she was relieved to have passed it. Well, she took the next step in her recovery on Sunday, when she returned from injury with a 13-minute cameo against the Blues.
While she is still working on her fitness, it is expected that her game time will be limited at first, but the goal is that by the start of the 2024-25 WSL season, she will have regained her stride.
Following that London derby at the Audi Field, Walti captioned her latest Instagram post,
“Happy to be back with the team that makes it all worth it. Grateful to everyone who had my back over the last 5 months and helped me make my comeback! (Love Emoji)”
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While Victoria Pelova is still recovering from an ACL injury she sustained on international service after the season, Jonas Eidevall needs all of his top midfielders, including Walti, to be fit.
It is wonderful that she’s back.
What are your thoughts on Arsenal Women’s midfield strength?
Michelle M
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Lia is an absolute star and imho she doesn t get nearly enough credit, her experience, marshalling of other defenders and positioning, make her indispensable, too many other players lose the ball, she doesn t …. thank goodness she made it over the last 5 months and made herself ready to play