UEFA Women’s Champions League preview: FC Bayern Frauen vs. Arsenal W.F.C. | OneFootball

WSL side Arsenal will return to Bayern Munich as European champions for one of the early Champions League fixtures on Wednesday. Just like the upcoming game between the men’s teams a couple of weeks later, this will be the standout tie from Women’s Champions League matchday three.

Bayern extended their lead at the top of the Frauen-Bundesliga to six points after Wolfsburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. The goalless home draw with Carl Zeiss Jena is the only league fixture Bayern failed to win from the first ten matchdays.

On Friday, they scored three goals inside the first 25 minutes on their way to a comfortable 4-0 win over newly-promoted Union Berlin. José Barcala’s side scored 35 league goals while only conceding three.

However, they were crushed to an embarrassing 7-1 defeat to Barcelona in the opening round of the Champions League. The Frauen-Bundesliga champions recovered against Juventus thanks to a controversial goal from Lea Schüller in the last action of the game.

Arsenal also lost on matchday one to OL Lyonnes before picking up their first points with a hard-fought 2-0 win in Benfica. Renée Slegers’ side is currently sitting outside the top three in WSL. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 with Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in a match that reignited discussions about VAR’s significance for the growing league.

Bayern will also use Allianz Arena for Wednesday’s blockbuster fixture. On their way to a second Champions League title last season, Arsenal finished ahead of Bayern in the group stage. However, Pernille Harder scored a hat-trick when the German outfit won the game in Munich 5-2.

Team News

Both teams are missing several key players for weeks due to injuries. Arianna Cruso came off the bench for Bayern over the weekend after a three-game absence. However, Schuller was absent from the matchday squad. Arsenal confirmed that Katie Reid suffered an ACL injury during a training session.

Predicted Lineups

Bayern: Grohs; Gwinn, Ballisager, Viggósdóttir ©, Kett; Tanikawa, Stanway; Dallmann, Harder, Buhl; Schuller

Arsenal: van Domselaar; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley ©, McCabe; Mead, Caldentey, Pelova, Foord; Blackstenius, Russo