2019–20 Arsenal W.F.C. season

Arsenal Women

2019–20 season
Arsenal celebrating after Leah Williamson scores in the League Cup final
Manager	Joe Montemurro
Stadium	Meadow Park
Super League	3rd
FA Cup	Semi-finals
League Cup	Runners-up
Champions League	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Vivianne Miedema (16) All: Vivianne Miedema (29)
Highest home attendance	4,000 (vs Chelsea, 24 January 2020)
Lowest home attendance	595 (vs Fiorentina, Champions League, 26 September 2019)
Average home league attendance	2,209
Biggest win	11–1 (vs Bristol City, 1 December 2019)
Biggest defeat	1–4 (vs Chelsea, 24 January 2020)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2018–19 2020–21 →
All statistics correct as of 29 February 2020.

The 2019–20 season is Arsenal Women's Football Club's 33rd season of competitive football. The club participates in the Champions League, the Women's Super League, the FA Cup and the League Cup. The club is the defending Women's Super League champion.

The 2019–20 season came off the back of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup which was played in France. A total of ten Gunners were competing at the World Cup with five different countries. Both Scotland and The Netherlands both had three Arsenal players in their roster: Jen Beattie, Kim Little and Lisa Evans for Scotland and Daniëlle van de Donk, Jill Roord and Vivianne Miedema for The Netherlands. Leah Williamson and Beth Mead were in the England squad while Pauline Peyraud-Magnin played for hosts France and Leonie Maier for Germany.

The Dutch got the furthest in the tournament, ultimately being defeated 2–0 by the United States in the final winning them the silver medal in only their second World Cup appearance. England got fourth place after losing the third place play-off against Sweden 1–2. France got knocked out in the quarter-finals by the United States (1–2), Germany was beaten 1–2 by Sweden in the quarter-finals and Scotland was not able to get out of their group.

The first pre-season friendly was against Bayern München in the Emirates Cup on 28 July, played in the Emirates Stadium. The women's team played this as a double-header with the men, who played Olympique Lyonnais later that afternoon. The team were still missing their Dutch and English internationals, who were not yet in training as they just returned from holiday after playing in the later stages of the World Cup. Aside from those missing internationals, the team had only been in pre-season for one and a half weeks whilst Bayern's season would start in a few weeks. Bayern won the match 0–1, with Melanie Leupolz heading in a free-kick in the first half. The match was overshadowed by Danielle Carter going off the field on a stretcher late in the second half. It was later revealed that she had sustained an ACL injury, which will keep her off the pitch for a long time. This just after she had come back from an ACL injury for which she had been out for almost a year.^[1]

Coach Joe Montemurro admitted that the game came a bit too early in their pre-season, but that it was a great occasion to showcase the women's game to a bigger crowd. He would've liked to come up against opposition of this kind a bit further into the pre-season, but the chance came along to be part of the Emirates Cup. It was important though to make sure the World Cup players were given a good rest before starting pre-season at the club.^[2]

The first part of pre-season included the previously mentioned match against Bayern and further friendlies against VfL Wolfsburg (two-time Champions League winner and 2018-19 quarter-finalist) and FC Barcelona (2018-19 Champions League finalist). A 3–0 defeat against the current German champions in the Austrian mountains and a 2–5 defeat at home against Barça showed that the team still has work to do in order to prepare for the upcoming European season. One of the issues seems the absence of Lia Wälti, who is still recovering from a knee injury. She plays as defensive midfielder and Joe Montemurro has attempted to work around her injury by trying other players on that position or other formations, but none seem to have had the desired effect - a problem that will need solving before the season begins.^[3]

After going head-to-head against the best European teams, Montemurro's team went on to play two more friendlies to prepare for the domestic season. They first played West Ham United behind closed doors, winning it 2–0.^[4] The final pre-season game came on 25 August against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur which was won 6–0 with a hat-trick by new signing Jill Roord and further goals by fellow new signing Jen Beattie, 2018/19 topscorer Vivianne Miedema and Jordan Nobbs, who returned to the pitch after being out since November 2018 with an ACL injury.^[5]

The Gunners' season started in September with a home game against West Ham United (8 September), which saw the official debuts of Jill Roord, Leonie Maier and Manuela Zinsberger – Jen Beattie made her second debut for the club. Beth Mead put Arsenal ahead after 14 minutes and Roord scored on her debut before half-time. A second half goal by Martha Thomas saw West Ham bring the score to 2–1 and they could've leveled it just before the end of the match when they were awarded an indirect free-kick after Arsenal goalkeeper Zinsberger picked up what the referee perceived to be a backpass, but the shot was saved by Zinsberger.^[6]

On 16 September the Gunners traveled to Leigh Sports Village to play newly promoted Championship champions Manchester United. It was a very tight match, with good chances on both sides: Jane Ross had her promising attack stopped by Zinsberger and Miedema saw her attempts frustrated by Mary Earps. A 89th-minute goal from Daniëlle van de Donk proving to be the difference between the two teams that evening, the fixture ending in 0–1 and Arsenal maintaining their good start to the league season.^[7]

Brighton & Hove Albion visited Meadow Park on 29 September for the third league game of the season. The Gunners ran out clear 4–0 victors, with Little, Miedema, Van de Donk and Nobbs all bagging one goal each. Besides scoring one goal, Miedema also assisted the goals for Little and Van de Donk.^[8]

After the October international break, Arsenal visited Chelsea at Kingsmeadow on 13 October. The Gunners took the early lead through a Van de Donk goal but seemed disjointed and underperforming in the second half, allowing in two Chelsea goals causing the first defeat this season and ending their run of 11 matches unbeaten. As a result of the 2–1 defeat, the team dropped down to third in the league rankings.^[9] Manchester City came to Arsenal's home on 27 October. City were the only side who hadn't dropped any points in the league yet and were on top of the league. Great play between Little and Miedema saw the latter score her 49th goal in as many starts for the club, slotting the ball low past City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck. Her goal turned out to be the only one in the game, though Nobbs came very close in the latter stages of the second half, but missed an absolute sitter a few yards from the goal. With the 1–0 victory, Arsenal moved up to second, just one point behind Chelsea.^[10]

After the international break, the Gunners played Tottenham Hotspur on 17 November in the first women's league North London Derby, at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The first half was pretty even between Arsenal and rivals Spurs, but in the end a league record crowd of 38,262 saw Arsenal win 2–0, thanks to second-half goals from Little and Miedema.^[11]

The last game of November, on the 24th was against bottom of the league Liverpool. Although standing last in the league, Liverpool hadn't conceded many goals throughout the season. This game was no different, a first-half goal by Miedema making the difference to decide this match: 1–0.^[12]

When Bristol City returned to Meadow Park for the league on 1 December, Arsenal continued where they left off in the League Cup 10 days prior. In a new record win for the Women's Super League, the Gunners put 11 goals past Bristol, in what could only be described as a Miedema masterclass. In her 70 minutes on the pitch, she scored six and assisted another four goals: two scored by Evans, and one each by Williamson and Nobbs. Miedema was thus involved in all ten goals scored when she was on the pitch. After being substituted, two further goals were scored: one by Mitchell - who substituted on for Miedema and one by Bristol's Yana Daniels, who put away a penalty rebound ending the game in 11–1.^[13]

A week later on 8 December Arsenal went to Adams Park to take on Reading in the league. After a slow start (first 30 minutes) in which Reading played a high press, making it difficult for Arsenal to execute their game plan, Miedema was the first to score. Ten minutes later Little finished a superbe team-goal, engineered by her with one-touch passing between her, Nobbs and Williamson. After the break, not much changed for the scoreline until the first minute of extra time when Miedema dinked the ball over the keeper into the net after a long pass by Van de Donk, ending the game in 0–3.^[14]

In the last game of 2019, Arsenal traveled to Everton on 15 December for their league game. Game started off well, Miedema scoring the first inside 15 minutes. Halfway through the first half, Gabrielle George collided with Mead causing the latter to be stretchered off the field, letting Arsenal fans - all to familiar with injuries over the last seasons - fear the worst. The second half produced the result: a Little penalty, another Miedema goal and an Everton goal by Chloe Kelly ending the game in 1–3.^[15] Luckily for the Gunners, Arsenal later reported that after taking x-rays of her leg, Mead's injuries weren't as bad as they seemed during the game - only sustaining bruising to her lower leg.^[16]

The new year started off with a visit by Birmingham City to Meadow Park on 5 January. A first-half goal each from Little and Nobbs resulting in a 2–0 win. The Birmingham side had been a mainstay in the top four for recent seasons, but managerial changes and important players transferring out has left the club fighting to stay up thus far this season.^[17]

A week later (12 January), the Gunners traveled to Brighton & Hove Albion. In the reverse fixture, Arsenal had beaten the Seagulls 4–0 and this match had the same result: first-half goals by Van de Donk and Roord and second-half goals by Nobbs and Mead ensuring another 0–4 win.^[18]

On 19 January, the Gunners welcomed Chelsea to Meadow Park. The first 20 minutes from the visitors was an onslaught, striking three times - by England, Kerr and Ingle, leaving the Gunners no chance to get into the game. Reiten scored a fourth in the second-half before Mead got a consolation goal. Manager Montemurro later admitted that he got the tactics wrong in attempting to press a bit higher up the pitch and stop them from playing through the middle and to create overloads in the middle of the park,^[19] which allowed Chelsea to easily attack from the sides.^[20]

Arsenal visited the Academy Stadium on 2 February to play Manchester City for the league, only four days after their League Cup semi-final victory. This time around though the roles are reversed with City scoring two goals around half time. Van de Donk put one in the back of the net halfway through the second half to produce the result: 2–1.^[21]

After the little snag in the Gunners' league campaign, they visited Liverpool on 13 February. Liverpool went a goal up early in the first half via Babajide. Miedema scored the equalizer halfway through, for Nobbs to add to the tally just minutes later. Just before half-time, Liverpool drew back level via Furness to got 2–2 into the break. Late in the second half, Arsenal were able to get the result they wanted: Miedema scoring to end the game 3–2.^[22]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FA decided to suspend the league on 13 March,^[23] first until April but later indefinitively. On 25 May it was announced that the season will not be continued,^[24] with the end standings determined on 5 June based on points per game, resulting in a third place for Arsenal.^[25] The season's Champions League play-offs will be played in August,^[26] while the FA Cup will be finished in September.^[27]

No.	Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Since	Last Contract	Signed From
Goalkeepers
1	Manuela Zinsberger	(1995-10-19) 19 October 1995 (age 29)	2019	May 2019[28]	Bayern München
18	Pauline Peyraud-Magnin	(1992-03-17) 17 March 1992 (age 32)	2018	July 2018[29]	Lyon
18	Lydia Williams ‡	(1988-05-13) 13 May 1988 (age 36)	2020	July 2020[30]	Melbourne City
24	Fran Stenson	(2001-04-27) April 27, 2001 (age 23)	2019	August 2019[31]	Manchester City
Defenders
2	Katrine Veje	(1991-06-19) 19 June 1991 (age 33)	2019	January 2019[32]	Montpellier
3	Emma Mitchell	(1992-09-19) 19 September 1992 (age 32)	2013	April 2018[33]	SGS Essen
3	Lotte Wubben-Moy ‡	(1999-01-11) 11 January 1999 (age 25)	2020	September 2020[34]	University of North Carolina
5	Jen Beattie	(1991-05-13) 13 May 1991 (age 33)	2019	June 2019[35]	Manchester City
6	Leah Williamson	(1997-03-29) 29 March 1997 (age 27)	2014	March 2018[36]	Homegrown
12	Steph Catley ‡	(1994-01-26) 26 January 1994 (age 30)	2020	July 2020[37]	Melbourne City
16	Louise Quinn	(1990-06-17) 17 June 1990 (age 34)	2017	May 2019[38]	Notts County
16	Noelle Maritz ‡	(1995-12-23) 23 December 1995 (age 28)	2020	July 2020[39]	Wolfsburg
20	Leonie Maier	(1992-09-29) 29 September 1992 (age 32)	2019	May 2019[40]	Bayern München
21	Tabea Kemme	(1991-12-14) 14 December 1991 (age 32)	2018	July 2018[41]	Turbine Potsdam
22	Viktoria Schnaderbeck	(1991-01-04) 4 January 1991 (age 33)	2018	June 2020[42]	Bayern München
30	Ruby Mace ‡	(2003-09-05) 5 September 2003 (age 21)	2020	Academy	Homegrown
Midfielders
7	Daniëlle van de Donk	(1991-08-05) 5 August 1991 (age 33)	2015	March 2019[43]	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC
8	Jordan Nobbs	(1992-12-08) 8 December 1992 (age 31)	2010	April 2020[44]	Sunderland
10	Kim Little (captain)	(1990-06-29) 29 June 1990 (age 34)	2016	August 2019[45]	Seattle Reign
13	Lia Wälti	(1993-04-19) 19 April 1993 (age 31)	2018	December 2019[46]	Turbine Potsdam
14	Jill Roord	(1997-04-22) 22 April 1997 (age 27)	2019	May 2019[47]	Bayern München
21	Malin Gut ‡	(2000-08-01) 1 August 2000 (age 24)	2020	July 2020[48]	Grasshopper
26	Ruby Grant	(2002-04-15) 15 April 2002 (age 22)	2018	Academy	Homegrown
27	Mel Filis	(2002-07-30) 30 July 2002 (age 22)	2018	Academy	Homegrown
28	Silvana Flores	(2002-04-18) 18 April 2002 (age 22)		Academy	Homegrown
Forwards
9	Danielle Carter	(1993-05-18) 18 May 1993 (age 31)	2009	August 2017[49]	Sunderland
11	Vivianne Miedema	(1996-07-15) 15 July 1996 (age 28)	2017	December 2018[50]	Bayern München
15	Katie McCabe	(1995-09-21) 21 September 1995 (age 29)	2015	March 2019[51]	Shelbourne
17	Lisa Evans	(1992-05-21) 21 May 1992 (age 32)	2017	December 2018[52]	Bayern München
19	Caitlin Foord	(1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 (age 30)	2020	January 2020[53]	Sydney FC
23	Beth Mead	(1995-05-09) 9 May 1995 (age 29)	2017	November 2019[54]	Sunderland

Italic indicates an academy player.

‡ = Player joined the club after the regular European domestic season (after June 2020), and played during the 2019–20 season in games postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

No.	Name	Super League		FA Cup		League Cup		UWCL		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Manuela Zinsberger	12	0	4	0	4	0	2	0	22	0
18	Pauline Peyraud-Magnin	3	0	0	0	4	0	3	0	10	0
18	Lydia Williams ‡	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	Fran Stenson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
2	Katrine Veje	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	3	0
3	Emma Mitchell	0+2	1	0	0	3	1	0+3	0	3+5	2
3	Lotte Wubben-Moy ‡	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
5	Jen Beattie	9+1	0	1	0	3+1	2	5	0	18+2	2
6	Leah Williamson	15	1	3+1	0	5+1	1	4	0	27+2	2
12	Steph Catley ‡	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
16	Louise Quinn	3+3	0	2	0	6	0	1+2	0	12+5	1
16	Noelle Maritz ‡	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
20	Leonie Maier	6+7	0	2+1	0	6	0	2	0	16+8	0
21	Tabea Kemme	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Viktoria Schnaderbeck	10	0	3	0	5 (1)	0	1 (3)	0	19+4	0
30	Ruby Mace ‡	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
Midfielders
7	Daniëlle van de Donk	14+1	5	3+1	1	6+1	3	5	3	28+3	12
8	Jordan Nobbs	12 (2)	5	3	2	6 (1)	1	1 (3)	0	22+6	8
10	Kim Little (captain)	12	5	3	0	3 (1)	3	5	4	23+1	12
13	Lia Wälti	9+1	0	1+1	1	4+2	0	2+2	0	16+6	1
14	Jill Roord	9 (5)	2	2	0	8	2	3 (2)	1	22+7	5
21	Malin Gut ‡	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
26	Ruby Grant	0	0	1	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	2+1	0
27	Mel Filis	0 (1)	0	1	0	2	3	0	0	3+1	2
28	Silvana Flores	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	Danielle Carter	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Vivianne Miedema	14	16	3 (1)	0	5 (2)	3	5	10	27+3	29
15	Katie McCabe	12 (1)	0	3	1	5 (2)	3	4	0	24+3	4
17	Lisa Evans	14 (1)	2	2 (1)	3	4 (3)	2	5	1	25+5	8
19	Caitlin Foord	0	0	3	1	1	0	0+1	0	4+1	1
23	Beth Mead	11+3	3	2+1	0	5+2	5	5	1	23+6	9

Italic indicates an academy player.

‡ = Player joined the club after the regular European domestic season (after June 2020), and played during the 2019–20 season in games postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Rank	No.	Position	Name	Super League	FA Cup	League Cup	UWCL	Total
1	11	FW	Vivianne Miedema	16	0	3	10	29
2	7	MF	Daniëlle van de Donk	5	1	3	3	12
	10	MF	Kim Little (captain)	5	0	3	4	12
3	23	FW	Beth Mead	3	0	5	1	9
4	8	MF	Jordan Nobbs	5	2	1	0	8
	17	FW	Lisa Evans	2	3	2	1	8
5	14	MF	Jill Roord	2	0	2	1	5
6	15	FW	Katie McCabe	0	1	3	0	4
7	27	MF	Mel Filis	0	0	3	0	3
8	6	DF	Leah Williamson	1	0	1	0	2
	5	DF	Jen Beattie	0	0	2	0	2
	3	DF	Emma Mitchell	1	0	1	0	2
9	19	FW	Caitlin Foord	0	1	0	0	1
	13	MF	Lia Wälti	0	1	0	0	1
Total				40	9	29	20	98

Rank	No.	Position	Name	Super League		FA Cup		League Cup		UWCL		Total
1	15	DF	Katie McCabe	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
2	7	MF	Daniëlle van de Donk	2	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	5	0
	14	MF	Jill Roord	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
3	23	FW	Beth Mead	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	5	DF	Jen Beattie	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
4	1	GK	Manuela Zinsberger	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	11	FW	Vivianne Miedema	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	13	MF	Lia Wälti	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	20	DF	Leonie Maier	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	22	MF	Viktoria Schnaderbeck	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	19	FW	Caitlin Foord	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	6	DF	Leah Williamson	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	16	DF	Louise Quinn	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total				18	0	2	0	4	0	4	0	28	0

Rank	No.	Name	Super League	FA Cup	League Cup	UWCL	Total
1	18	Manuela Zinsberger	6	3	2	1	12
2	1	Pauline Peyraud-Magnin	2	0	4	2	8
Total			8	3	6	3	14

Announcement date	No.	Position	Player	From club
14 May 2019[55]	14	MF	Jill Roord	Bayern Munich
17 May 2019[56]	1	GK	Manuela Zinsberger	Bayern Munich
31 May 2019[57]	20	DF	Leonie Maier	Bayern Munich
5 June 2019[58]	5	DF	Jen Beattie	Manchester City
16 August 2019[59]	24	GK	Fran Stenson	Manchester City
24 January 2020[60]	19	FW	Caitlin Foord	Sydney FC

Announcement date	No.	Position	Player	At Arsenal since
14 May 2019[61]	16	DF	Louise Quinn	2017
5 August 2019[62]	10	MF	Kim Little (captain)	2016
28 November 2019[63]	23	FW	Beth Mead	2017
30 December 2019[64]	13	MF	Lia Wälti	2018

Announcement date	No.	Position	Player	To club
10 May 2019[65]	1	1GK	Sari van Veenendaal	Atlético Madrid
10 May 2019[65]	20	MF	Dominique Bloodworth	Wolfsburg
23 May 2019[66]	34	GK	Libby Harper	Akron Zips
21 June 2019[67]	32	FW	Lachante Paul	Leicester City
24 June 2019[68]	28	FW	Paige Bailey-Gale	Leicester City
1 July 2019[69]	24	MF	Ava Kuyken	Florida Gators
1 July 2019[70]		DF	Abbie Roberts	Rutgers Scarlet Knights
3 August 2019[71]	29	FW	Amelia Hazard	London Bees
22 August 2019[72]	4	DF	Janni Arnth	Fiorentina
14 January 2020[73]	21	DF	Tabea Kemme	Retired

Announcement date	No.	Position	Player	To club
6 September 2019[74]	24	GK	Fran Stenson	Blackburn Rovers
3 January 2020[75]	3	DF	Emma Mitchell	Tottenham Hotspur

Position	No.	Player	Injury	Last game	Estimated return
FW	9	Danielle Carter	Knee (ACL)	vs. Bayern München, 28 July 2019	Entire season [76]
MF	2	Katrine Veje	Foot	vs. Brighton & Hove Albion, 11 November 2019	Short-term [77]
MF	10	Kim Little	Foot	vs. Chelsea, 19 January 2020	This season [78]
MF	13	Lia Wälti	Hamstring [79]	vs. Manchester City, 29 January 2020	This season [80]
FW	23	Beth Mead	Knee (MCL)	vs. Liverpool, 13 February 2020	This season [81]

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

28 July 2019 Emirates Cup	Arsenal	0–1	Bayern Munich	Holloway
12:30 BST		Report	Leupolz 24'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 28,500[82] Referee: NA

VfL Wolfsburg v Arsenal

7 August 2019 Friendly	VfL Wolfsburg	3–0	Arsenal	Kössen, Austria
15:30 CEST	Pajor 43' Huth 45' Jakabfi 71'	Arsenal Twitter Soccerway		Stadium: Akademie Liefering Platz 1 Attendance: NA Referee: NA

Arsenal v Barcelona

14 August 2019 Friendly	Arsenal	2–5	Barcelona	Borehamwood
19:30 BST	McCabe 37' Little 76' (pen.)	Report	Guijarro 44' Oshoala 45', 50' Pina 71', 81'	Stadium: Meadow Park Attendance: NA Referee: NA

Match details

Arsenal entered the Women's FA Cup in the fourth round against West Ham United on 26 January 2020, Wälti's side-footed volley and McCabe's early goal meant the "Gunners" comfortably moved into the fifth round of the competition. Arsenal's win came after their 4–1 league defeat to Chelsea; after the match, both Montemurro and Wälti said that they were happy with the team's response after the defeat.^[84] Arsenal then played Lewes on 23 February, a match which was postponed a few days earlier due to poor weather conditions caused by Storm Dennis.^[85] The club progressed to the quarter-finals following a "dominant" 2–0 home win over the second-tier side with goals from Foord and Van de Donk,^[86] it was Foord's first appearance and goal for the club since joining in January.^[87]

The competition was then delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with the quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur in March postponed; the Football Association later rescheduled the remainder of the competition in July, set to be played from September, three weeks into the following WSL season.^[88] During Arsenal's match against "Spurs", which was played behind closed doors at Meadow Park, the "Gunners" comfortably won 4–0 with an Evans hat-trick and a goal from Nobbs.^[89] Arsenal were then drawn against title holders Manchester City for their semi-final fixture. The "Gunners" were defeated 2–1 at the Academy Stadium, goals from City's Sam Mewis and former Arsenal player Steph Houghton meant that Arsenal left the competition early.^[90] Manchester City later won the FA Cup after defeating Everton 3–1 in the final.^[91]

Match details

Arsenal began their FA Women's League Cup campaign away against second-tier side London City Lionesses in September 2019. The "Gunners" dispatched the newly-formed side 5–0, Mead scored a hat-trick whilst Roord and Mitchell bagged the other goals which gave Arsenal a winning start to the group stage.^[92] After the match Mead explained that Arsenal's league campaign was most important to the team, but also said that "we are a team that wants to win things and we should be winning things", hinting at Arsenal's desire to win the competition.^[92] In late October, Arsenal later defeated Charlton Athletic 4–0 at Meadow Park with goals from Mead, Beattie and two from Van de Donk.^[93] After a penalty defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion, and wins against Bristol City and the London Bees, Arsenal qualified for the knockout phase with 13 points on their group stage table.^[94]

Match details

Group B table

Arsenal hosted WSL side Reading on 15 January for their quarter-final tie, the "Gunners" defeated Reading with a late strike from Little which was teed up by Evans down the right wing.^[95] After the match, Montemurro acknowledged Arsenal's struggle to stick to their principles saying that "there were lots of elements of frustration."^[96] Later in the month, Arsenal played Manchester City at Meadow Park. They qualified for the competition's final after a 2–1 win with goals from Miedema and Van de Donk; City almost got back into the game with pressure on the Arsenal defence, but goalkeeper Zinsberger made several high quality saves to keep Arsenal in the match.^[97] The City Ground played host for the final against Chelsea, who had defeated Manchester United 1–0 in the semi-finals.^[98] Arsenal lost the League Cup final 2–1 with Bethany England scoring both goals for Chelsea; the first was a strike in bottom corner from close range, Williamson then equalised for Arsenal in the second half through a corner, but Chelsea responded late in the game when Sam Kerr set up England to finish in an open net.^[99]

Match details

Arsenal returned to the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time since March 2014, the club qualified for the round of 32 on virtue of finishing first in the WSL in the previous season; Arsenal travelled to Florence, Italy to face Fiorentina on 12 September 2019 in what was their first European match in over five years. The "Gunners" won 4–0 with a brace (two goals) from Miedema, a far corner finish by Little, and an Evans volley setup by Mead to all but send Arsenal into the next round.^[100] They later confirmed qualification when they defeated the Italian side 2–0 in the second leg at home.^[101]

Match details

Fiorentina v Arsenal

12 September 2019 First leg	Fiorentina	0–4	Arsenal	Florence, Italy
19:00 CEST	Philtjens  34'	UEFA playmakerstats.com	Miedema 18', 51' Little 32' Evans 55'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 5,338 Referee: Ivana Martinčić (Croatia)

Arsenal v Fiorentina

26 September 2019 Second leg	Arsenal	2–0	Fiorentina	Borehamwood
19:30 BST	Little 43' (pen) Miedema 74'	Report	De Vanna  30' Lázaro  66'	Stadium: Meadow Park Attendance: NA Referee: Iuliana Demetrescu (Romania)

Arsenal comfortably qualified for the quarter-finals after they defeated Czech side Slavia Praha 13–2 on aggregate; Tumaini Carayol from The Guardian characterised Arsenal's 8–0 second leg win as a "rout".^[102] Miedema scored seven goals over the two matches.

Match details

Slavia Praha v Arsenal

16 October 2019 First leg	Slavia Praha	2–5	Arsenal	Prague, Czech Republic
18:30 CEST	Szewieczková  54' Svitková 71' Persson  57', 88'	Report	Miedema 24', 26', 39', 52' Beattie  38' McCabe  38' Little 58' (pen)	Stadium: Sinobo Stadium Attendance: NA Referee: Eleni Antoniou (Greece)

Arsenal v Slavia Praha

31 October 2019 Second leg	Arsenal	8–0	Slavia Praha	Borehamwood
19:30 GMT	Van de Donk 21', 59', 70' Little 24' (pen) Roord 32' Miedema 45', 74', 86'	Report	Szewieczková  67' Veselá  68'	Stadium: Meadow Park Attendance: NA Referee: Riem Hussein (Germany)

Arsenal were drawn against French side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for their quarter-final tie, the legs were originally scheduled to be played in March and April 2020.^[103] In March, the competition was put on hold indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with all other UEFA competitions and matches including UEFA Euro 2020.^[104] In July, UEFA announced that the quarter-final ties were to be played over a single leg at a neutral venue behind closed doors in August; Arsenal were set to play PSG at Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastián, Spain, the home stadium of La Liga side Real Sociedad.^[105] Clubs were allowed to register six new eligible players for the tie due to the extended tournament delay;^[105] Summer signing Noelle Maritz started the match, whilst Australian international Steph Catley made an appearance from the substitutes bench.^[106] Arsenal lost 2–1 and were knocked out from the competition, Marie-Antoinette Katoto gave PSG an early lead before Mead equalised just before the end of the first half; despite Arsenal creating good chances in the second half, PSG substitute Signe Bruun scored the winner after stealing possession deep in Arsenal's half.^[107]

Match details

Arsenal v Paris Saint-Germain

22 August 2020 Quarter-final	Arsenal	1–2	Paris Saint-Germain	San Sebastián, Spain
20:00 CEST	Mead 39' Foord  80' Williamson  88'	Report	Katoto 15' Diani  32' Lawrence  40' Bruun 77'	Stadium: Anoeta Stadium Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors) Referee: Esther Staubli (Switzerland)
Note: The match was originally scheduled for March 2020, it was postponed to 22 August due to the COVID-19 pandemic