Renée excited for entertaining Chelsea clash

Renée Slegers is hopeful of an exciting, entertaining game when we travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Sunday.

It’s our first London derby of the season as we look for three points that would take us above the Blues in the Women’s Super League table.

Asked what we’re expecting from Sonia Bompastor’s side in ther pre-match press conference, our head coach said: “Of course we know what the games are like against Chelsea. Both home and away they’re fights and we want to bring ourselves to the game, that’s most important to us.

“We know the qualities that they possess, the intensity that they can bring to a game. We can do that too, so it’s going to be a big game. It’s going to be a game where two teams are really going to go after it, so it’s going to be an exciting game, an entertaining game.

“We want to control things in the right moments, so I want to be and need to be ready for the fight on the pitch.”

Of course, this weekend represents the first time we’ll be coming up against former Gunner Katie McCabe, who moved to Chelsea in the summer.

“She’s been part of Arsenal for a very long time and she now made the step to Chelsea, she plays for Chelsea now and of course that’s a moment both for Arsenal and for her, but at the same time we’re going to prep for this game, and we want to prep for her to be our opponent now because that’s reality,” Renée added.

“We prepare for this game, and we prepare for Katie as our opponent for this game and that’s our focus.”

So far this season we’ve faced a few teams that have decided to setup in a low block, but one reporter put forward the suggestion to Renée that Chelsea might opt to threaten us on fast breaks and counters.

“We always have to prepare for that, also for this game, of course,” she said. “But I also think that this game will play out differently. I think two teams that really want to go against each other rather than one team wanting to sit off and looking to break.

“But of course, there will be moments and spells where there is control and we have to have a really solid defence behind us. Because we know that they have certain qualities in the Chelsea team that we have to stop. But like I said, I think this game will look different.”