Alessia Russo's return to Leigh Sports Village will be one of the main talking points when Arsenal Women travel to the North-West for Friday's Women's Super League meeting with Manchester United Women.

The hosts began their campaign with a dramatic 2-1 win over Aston Villa, while Arsenal suffered a surprise defeat to Liverpool.

Match preview

After falling short in the title race last season, runners-up Man United still managed to achieve their best-ever league finish in the WSL.

With Marc Skinner's side hoping to mount another title push, they would have been pleased to begin the campaign with a 2-1 away victory over Aston Villa.

Lucia Garcia found the net to quickly cancel out Rachel Daly's 76th-minute opener, before Rachel Williams headed home in stoppage time to complete the turnaround and seal Man United's eighth consecutive WSL victory.

The Red Devils will already be looking forward to making their Women's Champions League debut when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their second-round qualifying tie on Tuesday, but before they can turn their full focus on that fixture, they must negotiate a difficult home meeting with Arsenal.

United will be able to draw inspiration from their impressive home record, having put together an eight-game unbeaten run in WSL home matches since losing to Chelsea in November 2022.

Arsenal's 2023-24 campaign began in a disappointing Champions League exit after they lost out on penalties to Paris FC in the first round of qualifying.

After seeing their European journey come to a premature end, Jonas Eidevall's side experienced more disappointment in their league opener against Liverpool in front of a WSL record crowd at the Emirates Stadium.

A second-half strike from Liverpool's Miri Taylor proved to be decisive as Arsenal fell to a third consecutive league defeat after losing to Chelsea and Aston Villa in their final two games of the 2022-23 season.

With the WSL only 22 games long, Arsenal can ill-afford to begin their league campaign with back-to-back defeats if they are to harbour realistic hopes of winning their first title since 2019.

While the Gunners may have lost both league games against Man United last term, the match-winner on both occasions was Russo, who is now wearing the red and white of Arsenal after signing on a free transfer over the summer following her decision to turn down a new deal with the Red Devils.

Team News

While Man United are still without Aoife Mannion and Emma Watson, Skinner has reported no fresh injury concerns ahead of Friday's contest.

Despite coming off the bench to score the winner against Aston Villa, Williams may have to settle for a place among the substitutes, with Skinner set to name an unchanged lineup.

Mary Earps, who was linked with a move to Arsenal over the summer, will start in goal for the visitors, and she will be shielded by the central-defensive pairing of Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner.

As for the visitors, Beth Mead is closing in on a return from an anterior cruciate ligament, but Friday's contest will come too soon for the England international.

Leah Williamson, Laura Wienroither, Vivianne Miedema and Teyah Goldie remain sidelined with the same injury as Mead.

Russo will be looking to score her first WSL goal in an Arsenal shirt when she leads the line against her former club.

Manchester United Women possible starting lineup:
Earps; Blundell, Le Tissier, Turner, George; Ladd, Zelem; Garcia, Toone, Galton; Geyse

Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:
Zinsberger; Wubben-Moy, Beattie, Catley; Pelova, Little, Walti, McCabe; Maanum, Foord, Russo

We say: Manchester United Women 2-1 Arsenal Women

Man United are unbeaten in their last four competitive meetings with the Gunners, and we think that they will utilise home advantage to continue that impressive run with a narrow victory in Friday's contest.

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