Arsenal Women will play their first match of 2025 when they welcome Crystal Palace Women for Sunday's Women's Super League clash.
The Gunners are sitting in third place in the WSL table, while the Eagles are propping up the standings with just five points to their name.
Match preview
Arsenal will hope to pick up from where they left off before the winter break after experiencing a significant upturn in fortunes under Renee Slegers.
The 35-year-old has overseen 10 wins and one draw in 11 competitive matches since she took over the reins following Jonas Eidevall's departure in the summer.
Slegers oversaw nine consecutive wins at the end of 2024, including four WSL victories without conceding against Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Liverpool to move them into third place in the league table.
Arsenal confirmed on Thursday that Slegers has been rewarded with the manager's job on a full-time basis, making Sunday's clash against Palace her first match as a permanent head coach.
The Gunners recorded a 9-0 FA Cup victory in their most recent meeting with Palace in May 2021, and they will be confident about claiming another comfortable win after winning 5-0 and 4-0 in their last two home league games against Brighton and Villa respectively.
Palace are sitting one point adrift from safety after winning one, drawing two and losing seven of their 10 league matches.
The Eagles, who won promotion from the Championship last season, have failed to win any of their last seven league games since they beat Leicester City on October 6.
Palace lost each of their final three WSL matches of 2024, losing away games against Aston Villa and West Ham United, before they fell to a 1-0 defeat in their home meeting with Manchester United.
They did at least manage to build confidence in their first outing of 2025, producing a free-scoring display to cruise to a 6-1 home win against Championship side Sheffield United in the FA Cup.
Palace will face a much tougher test this weekend, especially as they travel to Meadow Park with the worst defensive record in the top flight.
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Team News
Arsenal remain without the services of long-term absentee Victoria Pelova, who is working on her rehabilitation from a knee injury.
Swiss midfielder Lia Walti will be available for selection after returning to full training following surgery for an abscess.
Alessia Russo will be looking to pick up from where she left off before the winter break after scoring six goals in her last four competitive appearances.
As for the visitors, they confirmed earlier this week that Poppy Pattinson returned to Manchester City following a loan spell with the Eagles.
Chelsea loanees Jorja Fox and Brooke Aspin officially returned to their parent club after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament injuries in 2024.
Palace boss Laura Kaminski may decide to stick with the same side that started the dominant FA Cup win over Sheffield United in midweek.
Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:
Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Little, Walti; Foord, Maanum, Caldentey; Russo
Crystal Palace Women possible starting lineup:
Yanez; Sharpe, Nolan, Everett, Veje, Woodham; Potter, Cato, Gejl; Weerden, Blanchard
We say: Arsenal Women 3-0 Crystal Palace Women
Slegers will be keen to claim a win in her first game since being confirmed as Arsenal's permanent head coach, and we think that the Gunners will deliver the perfect result by easing to victory over relegation-threatened Palace, especially as the hosts have won each of their last five competitive home matches.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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