Jonas Eidevall and his Arsenal Women squad have made it through to the next stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifications, after winning both games against Rangers LFC and Rosenborg as we look to qualify for this season’s competition. Arsenal have come in and clutched both games, smashing Rangers 6-0 and were unlucky to not win by more against Rosenborg after dominating the game. Next, we face Swedish club BK Hacken FF in what should be another fiery game and another big test for Eidevall and his squad.
BK Hacken are currently 3rd in the Swedish Damallsvenskan Women’s League, having already played 19 games into their season (20 games in by the time we play them next week) and have had a positive start to the season, winning 13 out of their 19 games, 4 draws and only 2 losses. Having already played a lot of their season, they will be match fit and ready to go which could become a big advantage for the Swedish outfit, as Arsenal haven’t been able to get that many matches in and might struggle to keep up with the fitness levels.
BK Hacken and their manager Mark Lind pride themselves on attacking football, they’re made up of a lot of home-grown Swedish players and a few talented internationals. They’re a team that’s focused on fitness and an attacking style of play, passing the ball around quickly and are very well drilled, staying tightly in their positions, making it hard for the opposition to break through their midfield and defence.
Their midfield is where the engine to their machine lays and they have a bunch of players who consistently put everything they have on the pitch, working hard and striving for excellence. They use their midfield to overload their oppositions defence and are not afraid of having a shot from distance. A lot of their goals come from this midfield and although their frontline is just as dangerous, the midfield is where Arsenal will need to try and shut them down.
Because of such a strange schedule from UEFA, we enter these qualifiers not as prepared as a lot of teams will be, having only had a short pre-season and a few Champions League games We go into this game without the preparation that BK Hacken and a lot of teams will, but if we can continue to stay organised and take our chances when we get them, we can definitely walk away winners, but in my opinion, this isn’t going to be a walk in the park.
Fixture details:
Date: Wednesday, September 18th
Kick Off: 19:00 (local time) / 18:00 (UK)
Location: Bravida Arena, Gothenburg, Sweden
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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