Arsenal Women will welcome record European champions Lyon Women to the Emirates Stadium for Saturday's Women's Champions League semi-final first leg.
The Gunners saw off Real Madrid in the last-eight stage, while Lyon comfortably dispatched Bayern Munich to secure their semi-final spot.
Match preview
© Imago
Arsenal are dreaming of ending their 18-year wait for a European trophy after successfully navigating their way to the final four.
The Gunners collected 15 points from six matches to top Group D, before they went on to lose 2-0 in the away leg of their quarter-final clash against Real Madrid.
However, Arsenal showed great character to mount a comeback in the second leg, as Alessia Russo netted a brace alongside a Mariona Caldentey effort to seal a 3-0 victory on the night and a 3-2 win on aggregate.
The Gunners are now looking forward to their eighth semi-final appearance, although they will be aware that they have their work cut out to eliminate Lyon, especially as Arsenal have lost six of their previous seven last-four ties.
In fact, the North London club have failed to progress from each of their last four semi-final appearances since they beat Brondby 5-2 on their way to becoming European champions in 2006-07.
The Gunners will at least head into Saturday's fixture in a positive mood after they cruised to a 5-1 victory over Leicester City in Tuesday's Women's Super clash, courtesy of a Caitlin Foord brace as well as goals from Stina Blackstenius, Beth Mead and Victoria Pelova.
That result represented their 13th win in their last 15 competitive home games, while they have scored at least three goals in 11 of those victories.
© Imago
Lyon are in the hunt to win their ninth European trophy and their first since beating Barcelona in the final in 2021-22.
The French side scored 19 goals and conceded just once on their way to winning Group B with a perfect record, setting up a quarter-final clash against a Bayern side that finished second in Arsenal's group.
Former Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro oversaw a commanding 6-1 aggregate scoreline against the German giants, with Lyon backing up a 2-0 away win with a dominant 4-1 victory in the home leg, sending them into a record 14th European semi-final.
In contrast to Arsenal, Lyon boast a strong record at this stage of the competition, having advanced from each of their previous 11 last-four ties since they experienced disappointment in their first two semi-final appearances in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Having beaten Paris Saint-Germain in their previous three semi-finals, Lyon are set to face overseas opposition in a last-four game for the first time since recording a 3-2 aggregate win over Chelsea in 2018-19.
Lyon are yet to lose in regulation time this season, with their only loss taking place in a penalty shootout against Reims in January's round of 32 tie - a result that ended their hopes of a treble.
Montemurro's charges may have been held to a 2-2 draw in Saturday's home league clash against Paris FC, but they will draw inspiration from the fact that they have won their last five competitive away games by a combined 18-1 scoreline.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Imago
Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar is at risk of missing the rest of the season after sustaining an ankle injury on international duty.
Lina Hurtig and Laia Codina are unlikely to be involved, while Lotte Wubben-Moy remains a doubt despite recently making her return to training.
Speaking ahead of the recent WSL win against Leicester, Renee Slegers revealed it is "looking very good" for Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo to prove their fitness in time for Saturday's first leg.
As for the visitors, experienced defender Wendie Renard could return to the side to make her 500th appearance for Lyon after missing the recent league draw with Paris FC through injury.
Melchie Dumornay was also absent for Saturday's league outing, but the Haiti international should be available to start at the Emirates.
Dumorny is expected to feature in a front three with Tabitha Chawinga and Kadidiatou Diani, with the latter looking to add to her five-goal European tally for the season.
Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:
Zinsberger; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Little, Maanum, Caldentey; Kelly, Foord, Russo
Lyon Women possible starting lineup:
Endler; Carpenter, Gilles, Renard, Bacha; Egurrola, Heaps, Marozsan; Chawinga, Diani, Dumornay
We say: Arsenal Women 1-2 Lyon Women
Arsenal will be hoping to make full use of home advantage on Saturday, but we think that they may struggle to stop Lyon's front three of Chawinga, Diani and Dumornay, and with that in mind, we believe that the visitors will do enough to take a narrow lead back to France.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
