> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Arsenal v Crystal Palace Preview: Can Arsenal Turn Control Into Goals? - URL: https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/arsenal-women-v-crystal-palace-preview/ - Published: 2026-09-11T12:02:49.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-11T12:11:32.000Z - Description: Crystal Palace arrive at the Emirates with three points, several ambitious new signings and no particular need to dominate the ball. Can Arsenal turn control into goals? - Author: Roberto Revilla - Tags: Match Previews, Latest Arsenal play their first home match of the new WSL season on Sunday 13th September 2026, with Crystal Palace visiting the Emirates Stadium for a 2.45pm kick-off, and both teams arrive having taken three points from their opening weekend. For Arsenal, that came through the 1–0 victory at Brighton, with Lisa Baum announcing herself by scoring the winner ten minutes into her competitive debut. It wasn’t a spectacular performance, and there were certainly moments when the match became more uncomfortable than it needed to be, but Brighton has caused Arsenal problems in each of the previous two league seasons, so going there, keeping a clean sheet and coming away with the win mattered. There was also plenty in the performance that should encourage us as the new players settle. Georgia Stanway gave Arsenal a different way to progress the ball from deeper positions, Ona Batlle was already moving into intriguing areas, and Baum looked remarkably comfortable combining with Alessia Russo and driving forward whenever space appeared. The frustration was that Arsenal had enough possession and enough promising situations to make the afternoon considerably easier, but too many attacks either slowed down around the penalty area or ended without forcing the goalkeeper into a meaningful save. And when you’re only one goal ahead, it doesn’t particularly matter how much of the match you’ve controlled because one deflection, one set piece or one slightly unfortunate decision can undo an awful lot of good work. Crystal Palace will arrive at the Emirates with exactly the same number of points after beating Everton 1–0 in their first match back in the WSL, so the idea that this is simply Arsenal welcoming a nervous newly promoted team doesn’t really survive contact with what Palace have actually been doing. The obvious question is whether Arsenal can take the control and defensive security we saw at Brighton and add the speed, precision and ruthlessness that were sometimes missing in the final third, because Palace may not expect to dominate possession, but they’ve already demonstrated that they don’t need very much of it to win. To understand why, we need to look at how Jo Potter brought them back into the WSL and the team she's built since they got there. ![Crystal Palace Women celebrate promotion back to the WSL](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d2/b6/d2b6c83b-fa2f-458d-b44c-82aebbd18640/content/images/2026/09/Image-12.jpg) **Crystal Palace Women celebrate promotion back to the WSL* ### Jo Potter's appointment and an amazing run back to the WSL Crystal Palace’s previous attempt at surviving in the WSL lasted only one season and it wasn’t especially pretty. They finished bottom with ten points, won only twice and conceded three goals per game on average, which made their relegation feel less like a narrow escape that got away from them and more like confirmation that the gap between the divisions had simply been too large. But the Palace returning to the WSL now is quite different from the one that left it. Jo Potter took over in June 2025 after two seasons with Rangers, where she won four trophies and built a strong reputation for developing younger players, and although Palace didn’t begin last season particularly well, what happened once her work began to settle was dramatic. They won 12 of their final 14 matches, climbed from the wrong end of the table and secured the second automatic promotion place on the final day, finishing level on points with champions Birmingham City. So this wasn’t a team that drifted into promotion because the league expanded. By the end of the season, they were producing sustained promotion form under a manager whose ideas had very clearly taken hold. Since then, Palace have kept much of the core that earned that promotion while adding players who already understand the level they’re stepping into. Bethany England is obviously the name most people will recognise. She brings goals, leadership and years of WSL experience, while Molly Bartrip adds similar experience in defence after five seasons with Tottenham. In goal, they’ve brought in France international Pauline Peyraud-Magnin on loan, which is a fairly serious piece of recruitment for a newly promoted side. Then there’s Lexi Lloyd-Smith, who joined from Bristol City after finishing as the leading scorer in WSL2 with 11 league goals. She scored the winner against Everton on her Palace debut, so if anyone was wondering whether she could carry that threat into the top division, she waited about 34 minutes before answering them. Palace have also added Shannon O’Brien, Teyah Goldie and Fuka Tsunoda, while retaining important players from the promotion side such as captain Aimee Everett, Annabel Blanchard and Ashleigh Weerden. My Cato’s ACL injury was a significant setback before the season began, but the squad as a whole looks considerably better equipped for this level than it did two years ago. There is, of course, an awkward administrative cloud hanging over that opening win because Palace used four separate substitution windows against Everton when the rules permit only three. The breach is being investigated, and there may yet be a sanction, but whatever happens to the result administratively, it doesn’t alter what Arsenal need to learn from the match itself. Palace looked organised, carried a threat and found a way to beat an established WSL side, which means Arsenal should approach Sunday expecting a contest rather than a ceremonial welcome back to the division. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d2/b6/d2b6c83b-fa2f-458d-b44c-82aebbd18640/content/images/2026/09/Image-13.jpg) ### Arsenal will need to combine possession with speed and precision The most interesting thing about Palace’s win over Everton is that they had only 40 per cent of the possession, but still managed ten shots and put six of them on target. Everton had more of the ball, took 14 shots, and forced Pauline Peyraud-Magnin into only two saves, which suggests Palace were comfortable letting their opponents have possession without letting it become especially dangerous. Their starting personnel gave them a strong defensive structure, with Aimee Everett, Molly Bartrip and Jamie-Lee Napier providing experience at the back, but they weren’t simply retreating towards their own penalty area and hoping for the best. Palace chose moments to press higher, and when they did win the ball, they tried to turn those moments into attacks quickly rather than pausing to build something elaborate for the benefit of those of us who enjoy drawing arrows on screenshots. Lexi Lloyd-Smith gives them pace and movement across the front, Annabel Blanchard knows how to find useful pockets around the attack, and Bethany England provides the focal point, occupying centre-backs and giving Palace somebody they can find early when they need to escape pressure. Shannon O’Brien also tried to catch Courtney Brosnan off her line early in the Everton match, while substitute Abbie Larkin hit the crossbar after Palace won the ball through a high press, so Arsenal can’t assume every Palace attack will begin with them sitting deep and launching a hopeful pass towards Bethany England. There were moments at Brighton when Arsenal’s attacking shape left space behind the first line of pressure, and Leah Williamson had to take a yellow card to prevent Brighton from getting away on the counter. That was Brighton, of course, and Palace will present a slightly different problem, but the warning remains the same. If Arsenal commit numbers forward, lose the ball in a poor area and allow Lloyd-Smith or O’Brien to run into the space behind the full-backs, Palace have players capable of turning one loose pass into a proper chance. Bethany England’s role matters here because even if she isn’t the player carrying the ball forward, her movement can occupy Leah Williamson and Steph Catley, or whoever starts at centre-back, and create room for somebody arriving alongside her. She also cleared an Everton effort off the line in stoppage time, which tells you something about the work Palace are asking from their senior players when they have a lead to protect. So I don’t think Arsenal’s challenge is merely breaking down eleven players camped around their own penalty area. They will need to move Palace from side to side, play with more speed around the box than we sometimes saw at Brighton and remain properly organised behind the attack whenever possession is lost. Arsenal should have most of the ball, and they should create opportunities, but Palace’s opening match suggests they won’t be particularly troubled by losing the possession statistics. What will trouble them is Arsenal making that possession count before Palace can recover their shape. ![Georgia Stanway, Steph Catley & Leah Williamson Celebrate A Clean Sheet](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d2/b6/d2b6c83b-fa2f-458d-b44c-82aebbd18640/content/images/2026/09/Image-16.jpg) **Georgia Stanway, Steph Catley & Leah Williamson Celebrate A Clean Sheet* **| 📸**cozphotos ### Trailblazers predicted starting XI The temptation for [Renée Slegers](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/renee-slegers-arsenal-women-2026-27/) will be to look at the depth of this squad, look at a newly promoted opponent and begin making changes, but I’m not convinced Arsenal need to change very much from the team that started at Brighton. That eleven won the match, kept a clean sheet, and contained four players making their first competitive Arsenal starts, so there is something to be said for letting those relationships develop rather than rebuilding half the side every time the opposition changes. [Lisa Baum](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/why-lisa-baum-might-be-arsenal-womens-most-interesting-signing-so-far/) surely keeps her place after scoring the winner and doing far more than simply providing the goal. She combined well with Alessia Russo, carried the ball with purpose and looked willing to attack the space whenever Brighton gave it to her, which is exactly the sort of directness Arsenal may need against a Palace defence trying to recover into its shape. Olivia Smith had quieter periods at Brighton, but her ability to receive the ball wide and drive directly at a defender remains one of Arsenal’s clearest ways of disturbing an organised block. If Palace begin narrowing the spaces centrally, having Smith on one side and Baum on the other should force their defensive line to make some uncomfortable decisions about how far it wants to stretch. The more interesting question may be in midfield, because[ Georgia Stanway](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/georgia-stanway-everything-you-need-to-know-about-arsenals-new-midfield-engine/)’s deeper role gave Arsenal something different at Brighton. She could collect from the centre-backs and either drive forward herself or play over the first line of pressure, while Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey moved into positions ahead of her. Against Palace, Arsenal may have even more possession and less space through the centre, so those three will need to move the ball quickly enough that Palace can’t simply shuffle across, settle again and wait for Arsenal to begin passing around the edge of the penalty area. We’ve all watched enough of those afternoons to know where they lead, and it usually involves somebody describing 72 per cent possession as evidence of dominance while everybody else quietly stares at a nil on the scoreboard. I’d also keep the same back four, assuming everybody has come through the Brighton match without a problem. Emily Fox and [Ona Batlle](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/ona-batlle-arsenal-women-signing-analysis/) give Arsenal width and movement from full-back, while Leah Williamson and Steph Catley have the passing range to move Palace’s defensive shape before trying to find the forwards. Lotte Wubben-Moy will obviously be pushing to come back into the side, and at some point Élisa de Almeida will enter this conversation as well, but Catley and Williamson kept a clean sheet at Brighton, and I don’t see an urgent reason to disrupt that partnership for the sake of demonstrating that options exist. The one major unknown as I write this is whether [Géraldine Reuteler](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/geraldine-reuteler-why-arsenal-women-have-signed-a-bundesliga-diamond/) and [Selina Cerci](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/selina-cerci-arsenal-player-profile/) will be available. Neither was included in the squad at [Brighton](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/brighton-0-1-arsenal-women-wsl-match-review/), and we were told that wasn’t injury-related, so we’ll have to wait for further team news rather than invent an explanation and repeat it confidently until it becomes internet fact. My provisional team would therefore be Misa Rodríguez in goal, with Emily Fox, Leah Williamson, Steph Catley and Ona Batlle across the defence. Georgia Stanway, Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey in midfield, then Lisa Baum and Olivia Smith either side of Alessia Russo. That may look conservative when so many players are waiting for an opportunity, but the bench exists for a reason. If Arsenal move the ball too slowly or the match settles into the familiar rhythm of possession without penetration, Renée should have enough variety to change the problem rather than merely replacing one player with another asked to do exactly the same thing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d2/b6/d2b6c83b-fa2f-458d-b44c-82aebbd18640/content/images/2026/09/Image-17.jpg) ### What might decide this game, and my score prediction The decisive part of this match may be how quickly Arsenal can score the first goal, because the longer Palace can remain compact and protect a level score, the more the afternoon begins to suit them. If Arsenal score early, Palace have to decide whether to keep waiting for transitions or push more players forward, and once those spaces appear, the difference in attacking quality should become increasingly hard to contain. If it remains nil-nil after an hour, the crowd becomes restless, Arsenal begin forcing passes that weren’t available five minutes earlier, and Palace’s belief grows with every attack they survive. That doesn’t mean Arsenal should begin the match in a state of mild panic, firing hopefully from thirty yards because somebody has decided an early goal would be convenient. It means moving the ball with purpose, finding Smith and Baum before Palace can double up on them and creating chances from inside the penalty area rather than accumulating possession for its own sake. I’ll also be watching how Arsenal manage the space behind their full-backs, particularly when Bethany England drops towards the ball, and Lloyd-Smith begins moving beyond her. Palace don’t need to create ten clear chances if Arsenal give them one very good one, and Misa Rodríguez may have another afternoon where concentration matters more than the number of saves she’s required to make. This should still be an Arsenal victory. The squad is stronger, the match is at the Emirates and if Arsenal have serious intentions of winning the WSL, home matches against newly promoted opposition are matches they simply need to win. But I don’t expect Palace to arrive merely hoping the occasion is pleasant. They’ve won 13 of their last 15 league matches across the end of last season and the beginning of this one; they’ve strengthened intelligently, and they’ve already beaten an established WSL side. I’m going for Arsenal to win 3-0, although I think it may take a little patience before the scoreline begins to look comfortable. I’ll say Alessia Russo scores the first, Lisa Baum continues her rather enjoyable start to life at Arsenal, and somebody arriving from the bench gets the third after Palace begin to tire. Arsenal against Crystal Palace kicks off at 2.45 on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, and we’ll be following everything around the match across the Trailblazers [Instagram page](https://www.instagram.com/arsenalwomentrailblazers?ref=arsenalwomentrailblazers.com) and at [arsenalwomentrailblazers.com](https://www.arsenalwomentrailblazers.com/).