09 May 2023 , 12:00
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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall says the fairness of the WSL fixture list should be scrutinised in the near future.
His side travel to Brighton on Wednesday evening, but then don't play again until May 21 when they face Chelsea in a potential title-decider. The imbalance comes from the Gunners having played three games in the first ten days of May, starting with their Champions League semi-final defeat against Wolfsburg.
Chelsea and Man Utd contest the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley this Sunday, but there isn't any WSL action on the same weekend. Arsenal were originally meant to face Brighton away back in January, but the game was postponed due to a frozen pitch hours before kick-off.
Brighton are now in good form, picking up four points from games against bottom-half rivals Tottenham and West Ham in their last two and know a win against Eidevall's team would secure safety. Teams not having a regular run of fixtures has been prevalent in the WSL this season; for example, Liverpool played just twice in the space of a month recently.
"First of all we would have liked to play this game in January," said Eidevall. "Of course we would have liked that, but it is what it is.
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"With this league you never know where someone is going to put the games and with late broadcast picks and everything. I'll put that aside for now, but I definitely think that is a conversation to have for the future to make this league more professional and fair.
"But we have to play what is in front of us. They (Brighton) have played good attacking football most of the season, they just had a problem conceding goals. But it was huge for them to keep a clean sheet against West Ham."
Eidevall also praised the impact from club legend Kelly Smith since she joined the Gunners' coaching staff last month. Smith's leadership around the training ground has proven invaluable according to the manager, at a time when so many senior Arsenal players are missing through injury.
"Kelly (Smith) combines everything we want to be," he said. "She had this great technique, vision and game intelligence as a footballer. But she also played with her heart on her sleeve in every situation.
"It is great to have her inside our environment and culture to try to shape that. And also not having a coach that is just about the tactical or the technical, but one that can have a holistic view. Everyone that knows their Arsenal history knows she lived that day in and day out on the pitch."
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