Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says that his side need to reduce the number of big chances that they give away to the opposition.
The Gunners are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season. In the top half of the table, only neighbours Tottenham Hotspur have conceded more league goals than Arsenal in 2023/2024.
When speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s trip to Leicester City, Arsenal head coach Eidevall said that while his side are conceding a low number of chances to their opponents, it is the big chances that are hurting them.
“It’s disappointing that we haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet,” Eidevall said. “If we look back over the last two seasons, we’ve been very good at keeping clean sheets.
“We are constantly looking at ways to improve that. The reality is that the number of chances conceded in games is the lowest in the league; we have the lowest conceded expected goals in the league but we definitely don’t have the lowest number of conceded goals, which is a problem sometimes. That’s how things are in a low-scoring sport, things don’t get distributed evenly. The data shows that we give away a couple of big chances and we need to correct those things in our defending play.
“When it comes to our offensive play, I think we have come from a game against Liverpool where we didn’t create enough to coming to games from Man United onwards where we have created more and more but we have lacked a little bit of efficiency. We got that back against Manchester City and I think from a creative perspective against Bristol in the Conti Cup, that was also good. It is something that we are continually improving on.”
Going on to discuss this weekend’s opponents Leicester City, Eidevall said that The Foxes are a team that are growing and that they will provide his side with a very stern test.
He said “I’ve been impressed with the way that they’ve recruited and played since January. I think they’re competing in every game and they’re a really hard team to play. They play with a really high-paced, high-intensity style of football. Their manager Willie Kirk has had two transfer windows to bring in players that fit into that style and you can see that more and more.
“We definitely expect a really competitive game and I think Leicester’s development and investment in their squad absolutely shows the growth and development of the league as well.”
Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Leicester City at The King Power Stadium kicks-off at 6.45pm on Sunday evening.
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