Emirates Stadium on a crisp December evening isn’t always the kindest place for visiting sides, and Liverpool Women found that out the hard way. Arsenal, still smarting from a patchy run of form earlier in the season, needed this one – not just for the points, but to remind themselves and everyone else that they’re still very much in the mix for silverware. What unfolded was less a masterclass and more a gritty arm-wrestle, the sort of game where persistence trumps prettiness, and where a late substitute’s instinct can swing the whole thing. Renee Slegers’ lot edged it 2-1, but not without Liverpool giving them a proper scare, their compact setup turning what could have been a stroll into something far more tense. Let’s break it down.
1st Half Overview
For the opening half-hour, this looked like the most lopsided 0-0 you’ll ever see. Arsenal camped inside Liverpool’s half, completing north of 300 passes before the break, working slick little triangles down both flanks, and winning corner after corner five by the interval. The heat-map was basically one giant red blob in the final third; Liverpool’s was a thin blue stripe along the edge of their own box.
The breakthrough, when it finally arrived in the 16th minute, was worth the wait. Steph Catley, playing almost as an auxiliary left-winger, overlapped Olivia Smith and slid a clever cut-back into the Canadian’s path. Smith still had plenty to do 20 yards out, but she took one touch with her right and absolutely hammered a low drive across Faye Kirby into the bottom corner. Pure technique, pure confidence. Two minutes earlier, Lotte Wubben-Moy had rattled the post from a Mariona Caldentey corner; the sense was that the dam would break eventually.
It didn’t. Instead, on the half-hour, Liverpool scored with their first shot of the night. Kyra Cooney-Cross, trying to be too cute near her own box, was robbed by Mia Enderby, who slipped Beata Olsson through the middle. Olsson still had Emily Fox for company, but she shimmied inside and placed a calm left-footed finish beyond Anna Borbe. One chance, one goal. Classic away-day pragmatism.
From that point until the whistle, the game reverted to type: Arsenal probing, Liverpool absorbing. Alessia Russo missed a presentable header, Beth Mead forced a sharp low save, and Jenna Clark threw her body in front of everything that moved. At half-time, the possession read 61-39, shots 10-2, xG roughly 1.1-0.4. Arsenal had dominated everything except the scoreboard.
2nd Half Overview
Liverpool came out with noticeably higher energy, pressing in pairs and forcing Arsenal into a string of hurried long balls (their long-ball accuracy dropped from 62% in the first half to 38% after the break). For ten minutes, it worked: Cooney-Cross and Caldentey were crowded out, Russo became isolated, and the crowd grew restless.
Then Renee Slegers played her hand. Triple substitution in the 57th minute: Caitlin Foord, Katie McCabe, and Stina Blackstenius on, Mead, Taylor Hinds, and Frida Maanum off. The change was seismic. Foord immediately stretched the pitch, McCabe started bombing past Olivia Smith on the overlap, and Blackstenius gave Arsenal the focal-point runner they’d been missing.
The pressure became suffocating. Kirby made a stunning point-blank save from Russo in the 56th, tipped a Catley header over in the 85th, and somehow kept out a Blackstenius prod moments later. Liverpool’s back five began to creak: Hannah Silcock limped off injured, Clark was booked for a desperate lunge on Foord, and the legs were clearly going.
The winner arrived in the 87th minute, and it was everything the triple change had promised. Emily Fox, who had quietly become Arsenal’s most advanced player in the final quarter, took a quick throw level with the penalty spot, waited for Blackstenius’s dart in behind Clark, and rolled a perfect low ball across the six-yard box. Blackstenius met it first time with her left, guiding it high into the roof of the net while falling backwards. 2-1. Emirates Stadium erupted.
Seven added minutes felt like an eternity for the visitors. Kirby produced one last wonder-save from Catley, Clark flung herself at everything, but Arsenal saw it out with the kind of cynical game-management they don’t always show.
Arsenal Analysis
Look, this wasn’t Arsenal at their sparkling best, but they got the job done through sheer bloody-mindedness. Liverpool threw up this stubborn wall, and for chunks of the game, Arsenal just couldn’t find a way through – their passing was neat enough, sure, but it was all a bit ponderous, like they were waiting for the perfect opening that never quite came. Possession was theirs, territory too, but against that low block, they needed a spark. That’s where the triple sub around the hour mark came in. They kept hammering away, and in the end, Blackstenius pops up with that late dagger. Having a finisher of her caliber off the bench is a luxury most teams would kill for in games like this. Not pretty, not vintage, but in a title race as tight as this one? Three points in the bag, move on.
Tactically, Arsenal went with their go-to 4-2-3-1, all about stretching the pitch wide and letting the creators do their thing up top. Emily Fox and Steph Catley were bombing on from the back like extra wingers, creating those overloads that Liverpool struggled to handle, while Kyra Cooney-Cross held it down in the double pivot, giving Mariona Caldentey the freedom to drop into those sneaky half-spaces and pull strings. The front three, Beth Mead, Frida Maanum, and Olivia Smith, were swapping spots constantly, trying to poke holes in that packed defense. It gave them 58% of the ball, 540 passes flying around, and they were getting into the final third 58 times, but early on, it was too slow against Liverpool’s setup, with crosses going nowhere (just 38% landing). Things shifted after the subs: Caitlin Foord and Katie McCabe brought the zip, morphing it into something closer to a 4-3-3 with more direct runs, which finally pulled the visitors apart for Blackstenius’s winner. Their heatmap was all over the attacking zones – 42 touches in the box, but they wasted three big chances early, screaming for quicker shifts from defense to attack.
Liverpool Analysis
Gutted for Liverpool, honestly they were this close to nicking a point in North London, and they’d have deserved it too. For 87 minutes, they nailed their plan: sit deep, stay organized, talk each other through every Arsenal wave, and nick something on the break. They were solid as a rock at the back, squeezing out space for Arsenal’s flair players, and when they did counter, it was sharp; that goal was pure efficiency. Shows they can hang with the big guns, but those last few minutes? That’s where the experience gap bites, and they couldn’t quite hold the fort. Tough pill to swallow, but performances like this are building blocks for a side on the up.
Tactically speaking, Liverpool rolled out a no-nonsense 5-4-1, all about packing the middle and daring Arsenal to break them down. Jenna Clark was the boss in that back five, with Gemma Evans and Hannah Silcock either side, and the wing-backs Lucy Parry and Lily Woodham dropping in to make it a real midfield clog. Fuka Nagano and Kirsty Maclean were the destroyers in front, hoovering up interceptions (10 in total) and loose balls (44 recoveries), keeping things tight while Beata Olsson hung up top as the lone wolf, waiting for Mia Enderby’s runs to feed off. Their passing was all short and safe, 402 in total, to soak up the pressure, and it worked wonders against set-pieces, shutting out nine Arsenal corners without conceding. The equalizer came from one of those quick transitions in the 30th, but as legs tired and Silcock went off hurt in the 71st, they sank deeper, their duels dipping to 51%, and Arsenal’s probing finally found the crack. Heatmap-wise, they were barely in Arsenal’s box (just 10 touches), but that discipline in the low block almost got them the draw undone by a moment of quality at the death.
What’s next?
Arsenal will turn their attention to a midweek European fixture, looking to carry their winning momentum into the UEFA Champions League. Liverpool, meanwhile, face another tough test on the road in the FA WSL, needing to quickly shake off the disappointment of this late defeat.
| Arsenal W’s Next Match | Liverpool W’s Next Match |
|---|---|
| 09 Dec 2025, Twente W (H) | 11 Dec 2025, Aston Villa W (A) |
You can check out statistics, fixtures, and standings at our Match Center.
Player Ratings
Player of the Match: S. Blackstenius (Arsenal)
 Arsenal W |
 Liverpool W |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Player | Rating | # | Player | Rating |
| 1 | M. Zinsberger | 6.5 | 1 | R. Laws | 7.0 |
| 7 | S. Catley | 7.5 | 5 | N. Fahey | 7.5 |
| 2 | L. Codina | 7.0 | 6 | J. Clark | 7.0 |
| 3 | L. Wubben-Moy | 6.5 | 3 | G. Fisk | 7.0 |
| 15 | K. McCabe | 6.5 | 17 | A. Bernabe | 6.5 |
| 10 | K. Little | 7.0 | 8 | M. Enderby | 7.5 |
| 12 | F. Leonhardsen-Maanum | 7.0 | 18 | C. Hinds | 6.5 |
| 19 | C. Foord | 6.0 | 14 | S. Lundgaard | 6.5 |
| 11 | O. Smith | 8.0 | 7 | B. Olsson | 8.0 |
| 9 | B. Mead | 7.0 | 9 | L. Kiernan | 6.5 |
| 25 | S. Blackstenius | 8.5 | 10 | F. Holland | 7.0 |
