Renée Slegers put some time aside at Camp Nou following Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League to look ahead to Sunday’s visit of London City Lionesses at Emirates Stadium.

Asked what she expects from the 4.30pm kick-off in the Women’s Super League, our head coach said: “They're a very good team. Of course, a lot of new players in and a lot of quality. They've started the league really well, so I'm expecting a tough challenge. They've been lethal going forward, fast, so we'll have to be really, really disciplined on the pitch. 

“Of course, we look forward to being back at the Emirates and impose ourselves and play the Arsenal way and then build on the performance we had in the Champions League on Thursday night.”

We asked Renée if she’s been surprised by how quickly London City Lionesses have grown in the WSL after being promoted before the start of last season.

“You're always curious how quickly you can build a new team when there's so much happening,” she said. “So yes, quicker than maybe people expected. They look like a team, they look like they know what they're doing on the pitch. So yeah, we're really aware that we're playing against a really good team on Sunday, but like I said, we want to impose ourselves. 

“It's the Emirates, we want to play our way. We know we have to be really disciplined, but we want to show what we can do and be our best because the last games at the Emirates haven't become the results that we wanted to. So we're really, really driven and want to do everything to get three points on Sunday.”

Last season’s encounters with London City Lionesses were both victorious for us, as Renée recalled: “The first home game of the season, I remember we went down with a penalty and it was an early penalty for London City. We won that game 4-1, I believe, and they were very aggressive. They [wanted to play] every player on the pitch. We had to find solutions and we did that. So that was a great way to start the season for us at the Emirates. 

“The away game was a difficult 2-0 result. We're going to study those games and get the learnings from those games. At the same time, they've changed quite a lot and there's new personnel on their team. It's the here and now and we have changed as well. We look forward to the game.”

Lastly, with plenty of excitement building about our return to Emirates Stadium, we asked Renée just how much of a difference the supporters can make on Sunday.

“They're massive,” she said. “We're always so aware of how they invest to come and be there for us, the energy that they create for us, how it feels in the Emirates. It's of course nothing without the fans at the Emirates. They create the event and the match and the energy. We want to do everything we possibly can to put on a really good performance and go for the three points.”