Jeglertz assesses Arsenal threat ahead of Etihad showdown | OneFootball

Andrée Jeglertz says he feels Arsenal’s midfield is a key area City will look to contain in our league clash on Sunday.

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The Barclays Women’s Super League champions welcome the Gunners to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 4 October, with kick-off scheduled for 16:30 (UK).

It’s been a turbulent start to 2026/27 for our opponent’s who sit seventh with five points from the opening four games.

City, on the other hand, are the only side to boast a 100% record as we approach Gameweek Five.

Like previous Arsenal encounters, Jeglertz is expecting another difficult assignment, with the calibre of players at Renee Slegers’ disposal ready to pose a threat and disrupt our unbeaten run.

“Their central midfield is the engine of their team. So that is something that we need to make sure that we’re aware of,” said Jeglertz.

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“And also have some wingers who can challenge us and new players they’ve signed. There are a lot of different threats in that team so we can’t just focus on one or two things. We know them pretty well and they know us pretty well so it will be an exciting game.”

It’s been a hectic week for the Blues with a trip to Charlton last weekend followed by a Thursday night clash at the Joie against Real Madrid as we welcomed the return of European football to Manchester.

And to complete the eight-day stint, we take on a difficult outfit in Arsenal.

It has left the players with little time to recover, but the City boss reassured that the squad is managing the workload well.

“Of course a lot of people are tired after the game but the mood was good,” Jeglertz continued.

“We finished off the game on a high and that feeling is something we brought with us. The group is very hard on ourselves because we want to be better, we want to win here we want to win this game [Real Madrid] but also knowing that we finished in a good way.

“We can still lift a little bit of a level and we talked about it earlier in the first half but we are in a good mood.”

And when asked about his decisions around match minutes and how much the busy period impacts his decisions for substitutions versus making changes to impact the match at hand, Jeglertz provided key insight into his decision making.

“It’s something that you think about all the time,” the City boss admitted.

“The most important thing is the game that we’re in, that’s the most important thing at the moment. If we do substitutions it’s because we think it’s going to affect the team in a positive way.

“If there isn’t any injury or anything like that. That’s my absolute belief, that the game we played last night, the substitutions were because I thought they could give a positive injection to the game.

“And it actually has been like that both in the Liverpool game, the substitutions that came on. Talked about Bayern Munich the players came in there. So it’s definitely been like that.

“And I also think yesterday there are parts that we became better in. And it is a balance when you know there is just a couple of days before the next game and you need to make sure that at the same time you’re focusing on the game now that you also have a little bit of a thinking of how do we want to approach the game in three days.”

Watch both of our Etihad Stadium games for £20!

City’s 2026/27 Barclays Women’s Super League clashes with Arsenal and Manchester United will take place at the Etihad Stadium.

The Blues are set to host the Gunners on Sunday 4 October at 16:30 (UK), with United travelling to the Etihad on 12/13/14 February 2027.

City are Arsenal were locked in a thrilling title battle towards the end of the 2025/26 season, with Andrée Jeglertz’s side eventually sealing top spot with a game to spare.

Another blockbuster encounter beckons at the Etihad Stadium in early October, before we then face United there four months later.

City fans will have fond memories from the Manchester derby at the Etihad last season, with the Blues cruising to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Lauren Hemp.

Book your seat at both games for just £20!

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