Jonas Eidevall is eyeing a new record on another groundbreaking day for the women’s game.
Arsenal are hosting Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in a top-of-the-table clash in the Women's Super League on the same day that the men’s team are playing at Tottenham in the North London Derby. Ticket sales are already heading to the 45,000 mark for the WSL game which kicks off at noon, but could top 50,000 and beat the previous attendance record of 47,367.
It is yet more proof of the legacy of last summer’s Euros finals and testament to Arsenal being one of the clubs determined to hold their WSL games at their main stadium whenever possible.
Arsenal boss Eidevall said: “Maybe there will be a new record against Chelsea as well, so how do we use that crowd to energise the team and make it difficult as possible for the opponents to play at the Emirates.
“It’s about enjoying that, starting to play with it as well. We are going from one-off occasions and having a lot of people at the Emirates to now saying in the WSL that this could be the third game in a row which hopefully gets over 40,000 people.
“We see all these small things and all these things together, that’s what builds togetherness. We have the privilege to play in front of our own fans at the Emirates and it will be a great occasion.
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“There’s a togetherness in the club, the way we prepare, we couldn’t train here one day because of the snow and, in minutes, the club had prepared for us to train at the Emirates.”
Chelsea pipped Arsenal to the WSL title last season despite Eidevall’s team taking four points from Emma Hayes’ side. Arsenal are second with a game in hand on Chelsea and but Eidevall says what happened last season shows that every game is important.
He added: “Last year, we played Chelsea twice, took four points. They took one point off us but they won the trophy. It shows you can be better in the head-to-head, it helps but it doesn’t necessarily mean you win the trophy. The answer is that every game is important if you want to win the league.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal will wear black armbands to honour Lioness hero Beth Mead’s mother, who passed away after a long illness. Mead, who is out injured, has been very emotional about dedicating her success to her mum during her battle with cancer.
Eidevall said: “I want to send my condolences to Beth and her family with the loss of her mother. It’s obviously something that has been taking a lot of energy for us as a team to have a player who goes through that. The players have asked to wear black armbands to honour that.”
