Arsenal v Manchester City: Women’s Super League – live

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27 min: Roebuck is OK for now and meanwhile Lauren Hemp is in the wars with a head injury. It’s a physical contest out there.

25 min: More momentum from Arsenal, and Blackstenius at last involved as Ellie Roebuck comes out to smother. And now the Manchester City goalie is down. Her knee is being tended to.

22 min: D’Angelo is back up. Now, has Eidevall made any difference with his machinations?

20 min: D’Angelo is down for Arsenal. At least Zinsberger is on the bench though she makes no move to come on. Rather conveniently, D’Angelo gets worked over and Jonas Eidevall can work on his team. They need to improve, and quickly, too.

17 min: City opening up great spaces in Arsenal’s midfield, before Pelova, at last, relieves the pressure, for what feels a first attack of the game, only for an offside to intervene. This is toughgoing for the home team.

15 min: Feels like Stina Blackstenius hasn’t seen much of the ball. Not a good sign for Arsenal. Not a good sign at all.

13 min: Shaw almost gets another as he presses Williamson down and finds space to shoot. Good save from D’Angelo, and it needed to be.

12 min: Shaw turns creator in lofting out a pass to Kelly, who takes on McCabe, on sudden death, before the shot is blocked. City are really on it in these opening moments.

10 min: Katie McCabe is booked for dissent and for taking a throw-in and bouncing the ball off Chloe Kelly’s head in what looked an act of petulance.

8 min: City really fancy this one, and Arsenal look a little tired already. That’s not a good sign. Chloe Kelly was the supplier from City’s right flank and Shaw now has 16 goals for the WSL season.

6 min: City were incisive where Arsenal were sleepy. And the goal came down Katie McCabe’s flank.

Goal! Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City (Shaw, 5)

City really bided their time well, a deliberate passing move sees the ball played out wide and Bunny Shaw heads in.

4 min: City seem willing to sit back for the moment, and use their pace on the break. Hemp has a first burst down their left.

2 min: Arsenal take up the cudgels early though there’s a delay in play when ball is launched out of the ground by a City defender before landing somewhere in the Borehamwood area.

1 min: And away we go, following a taking of the knee. Here’s the live table AS IT STANDS.

The teams are out at Meadow Park for another grey afternoon in what has been a very grey spring so far. Still, this is no occasion to worry about the weather.

Charles Antaki writes in: “No Kim Little, and of course, no Miedema or Mead; enough to give any Arsenal fan the collywobbles. But on the other hand, they managed pretty well against Bayern the other day. And having the – let us say – combative Katie McCabe back is a bonus. Of course, there are doubts about whether Blackstenius will actually score on any given occasion, but usually others will step up, and sometimes Foord or Maanum will have a stunner of a game. So, positives.”

Jonas Eidevall on Katie McCabe’s recovery and Kim Little’s injury: “Katie made a very quick recovery. Kim is going to be out for a lonner time than Katie, at least a few weeks and we’ll have to see.”

Sabrina D’Angelo over Manuela Zinsberger in Arsenal’s goal is another headline selection from Jonas Eidevall. Can they revive the magic of Wednesday night?

Manchester City are unchanged from their 2-0 win over Chelsea last weekend as they seek to continue a 14-match winning streak.

The big news is that Katie McCabe starts at left-back for Arsenal after being on crutches and in a protective boot on Wednesday night but her foot injury was only a bruise. Back home in Ireland there were genuine fears she might even miss the summer’s World Cup. No Kim Little, though.

The teams are in

Arsenal: D’Angelo, Maritz, Williamson, Rafaelle, Wubben-Moy, Maanum, Walti, McCabe, Pelova, Blackstenius, Foord. Subs: Zinsberger, Beattie, Marckese, Queiroz, Kuhl, Wienroither, Taylor, Reid.

Man City: Roebuck, Aleixandri, Houghton, Greenwood, Morgan, Hasegawa, Angeldal, Kelly, Coombs, Hemp, Shaw. Subs: Casparij, Fowler, Castellanos, Raso, Ouahabi, MacIver, Dahou.

Suzanne Wrack ran a tale of the tape on the two contenders. You may be surprised on her final scores.

City’s defeat of Chelsea was sandwiched between the two legs of the latter’s Champions League quarter-final win against last season’s winners, Lyon. Gareth Taylor’s team play Arsenal on Sunday after the Gunners’ gruelling midweek defeat of Bayern Munich that earned their place in the semi-finals.

If fixture congestion is to play a part in the outcome of the title, then City have the advantage. With Arsenal and Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals and the latter in the FA Cup last four along with Manchester United, City’s undivided attention on the league could prove to be significant.

In addition to Champions League games, Arsenal have the toughest run-in, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea all still to come. A first league title since 2019 is theirs if they win every game but dangers lie ahead.

Preamble

This is massive. The WSL season enters its final straight with so much to play for. Arsenal are not exactly fresh from their Champions League victory over Bayern Munich, with Kim Little and Katie McCabe likely to be joining the long-term injury list. They need a win to draw level on points with league leaders Manchester United, who won their match on Saturday 4-0 at Brighton. They also need to win to hold off City, who unlike Arsenal and Chelsea, who play Aston Villa later, don’t have European distractions to deal with.

Kick-off is 12.30pm. Join me.