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Arsenal Women will look to claim a fourth consecutive victory when they welcome Juventus Women to the Emirates Stadium for Thursday's Women's Champions League clash. The Gunners are sitting in second spot in Group C with six points to their name, while Juventus are three points behind in third position. © Imago Arsenal have experienced an upturn in fortunes since Renee Slegers stepped up from her role as interim boss to replace Jonas Eidevall last month.
Slegers has seen her side put together a six-game unbeaten, consisting of five wins and one draw, including victories in each of their last three competitive outings. The Gunners began that three-game winning run with a dominant 5-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, before they swept past Juventus by a 4-0 scoreline in last week's European clash in Italy. Frida Maanum , Stina Blackstenius , Mariona Caldentey and Caitlin Foord all got on the scoresheet to fire Arsenal to their second win of the group stage, leaving them three points adrift of leaders Bayern with three games left to play.
Arsenal continued to build momentum with an impressive 3-0 victory in Saturday's North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, which came courtesy of goals from Alessia Russo , Maanum and Blackstenius. The Gunners will now turn their focus back to European action, knowing that a win will guarantee them a quarter-final spot as long as Bayern pick up at least a point against Valerenga. © Imago Juventus have their work cut out to reach the last eight after winning one and losing two of their three UWCL group matches.
The Italian side kicked off the main draw with a narrow 1-0 away victory over Valerenga, before they were quickly stopped in their tracks by a 2-0 home loss against German champions Bayern Munich. Juventus received another setback in last week's home game against Arsenal, with a 4-0 defeat leaving them on the brink of a group-stage exit. They will be fully aware that they could be eliminated with two games to play if they lose at the Emirates and Bayern take something off Valerenga in the group's other game.
Unfortunately for Juventus, they missed the chance to build some momentum in Sunday's league clash with Sassuolo, as they gave up the lead on a couple of occasions to draw 2-2 in a frustrating home outing. However, Thursday's visitors may be able to take confidence from the fact they have avoided defeat in each of their eight competitive away matches this season (W7, D2). © Imago Arsenal remain without the services of Victoria Pelova , who is continuing her recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury she sustained in June.
England international Beth Mead is likely to return to the starting lineup after dropping down to the bench for the North London derby. Maanum will be looking to continue her fine form in front of goal, having scored in each of Arsenal's last three matches in all competitions. As for the visitors, defender Cecilia Salvai remains unavailable for selection undergoing surgery to resolve a thigh issue earlier this month.
After making several changes at the weekend, Massimiliano Canzi is set to recall Pauline Peyraud-Magnin , Martina Lenzini and Estelle Cascarino . The likes of Arianna Caruso and Sofia Cantore could also come back into the starting lineup for Thursday's trip to North London. Arsenal Women possible starting lineup: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Walti, Little; Mead, Maanum, Caldentey; Russo Juventus Women possible starting lineup: Peyraud-Magnin; Kullberg, Lenzini, Cascarino; Thomas, Caruso, Schatzer, Bonansea; Cantore, Beccari; Girelli Arsenal have won their last three matches by a combined 12-0 scoreline, and we think they will produce another strong performance at both ends of the pitch to dispatch Juventus with minimum fuss to seal their place in the quarter-finals with two games to spare.
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