Arsenal v Chelsea: WSL – live!

20 min England robs Maanum when she looks to beat players close to her own box, but just as the danger looks imminent, Walti dashes in from behind and pokes the ball away. That’s a fine and crucial challenge, but England is hurt and so is Zinsberger, down inside her area. I think both will be ok.

19 min Chelsea, meanwhile, started the game pretty well, but the last 10 minutes or so have been all Arsenal.

18 min Chelsea are playing a pretty high line, and Arsenal are really testing that by feeding runs into the channels with balls in behind.

16 min Miedema pulls right now and slides a square pass into the box for Iwabuchi, but Little arrives on the burst and takes it away … except she can’t quite get her right foot around it to shoot. Good from Arsenal again though, who looks flexible and lithe in attack.

Vivianne Miedema is an expert! She runs in behind at inside left and McCabe finds her, but when Carter comes across, it looks like she’s overrun the ball … as if! Instead, she feints outside, nips inside, and with Carter stretching to block, drags a finish through her legs and inside the near post, Solskjær-style! That is a beautiful, brutal finish.

12 min Arsenal counter, Miedema flicking for Iwabuchi who collects on the touchline and sticks an instapass into space for McCabe, on the charge. On the far side, Mead is free, and the ball into her’s a decent one, but she doesn’t control … and the flag goes up anyway. Still, that was very nicely done.

10 min McCabe returned to the left, swings in another cross, and this time Berger dives on it. This has been a decent start.

10 min Berger comes for it and gets nowhere near! But Williamson, on the burst, can’t get her head to it under pressure from Eriksson.

8 min Williamson drills a fine switch out to Mead, stuck to the touchline. But with nothing on, she turns and retains possession then, when the ball comes back, wears a tackle from Reiten who ploughs through the back of her and McCabe has a chance to swing in the free-kick.

7 min Good from Chelsea, passing their way forward with Harder cleverly turning to lay back for Ji, who wiggles hips and slides her back in, down the right of the box. But Maanum does really well to intercede, making the challenge while winning a goalkick.

6 min The game hasn’t quite settled yet but Chelsea are knocking it about their back four. I’d expect Eidevall’s Arsenal to press, but perhaps it’s too hot and too early in the season for that today – and perhaps they don’t want to create holes for their opponents to play through.

4 min By the looks of things, Iwabuchi is playing down the left, doubtless wandering infield, with Mead on the right, presumably staying wider.

4 min Arsenal win a free-kick down the left which Little swings in, but Carter does well to hook clear.

2 min “As you say, this is one of the definitive matches,” says Charles Antaki, “certainly for Arsenal, who lost out on the top two spots last season by getting very little from their matches agains Chelsea and Man City. And the interview with Miedema will give it an extra frisson, as she seems to be saying pretty plainly that if it doesn’t go better this year she’ll be off.”

Well, she’s one of very few players who can pick the team for which she wants to play because they’d all want her, but she seemed excited by the new environment and Eidevall has been backed in the market.

1 min A long ball is flicked on by England and Cuthbert nashes down the right with players in the box! But her cross eludes all of the ones on her side, Beattie heading clear.

The players take the knee and the crowd applauds. This is London.

The PA belts out London Calling, of course it does. I’ve always thought the “live by the river” bit breaks the mood a bit, but absolute tune nevertheless.

Stoney expects a tight game that’ll be won the team scoring first – she plumps for Arsenal – while Carney goes for a 2-2 draw.

I wonder if the weather will help Arsenal, who should be the fitter side. Other hand, Kerr and Kirby coming on fresh when you’ve spent an hour-odd chasing England, Harder and Reiten sounds like an extremely unpleasant experience.

“Glorious,” says Emma Hayes of today’s weather, then says that Kirby and Kerr are on the bench because her Olympic players need more rest – in any case, she conceives of a squad not an XI. “It’s just another game for us, beautiful weather, beautiful stadium,” she tells us, and she’s looking forward to watching her team today, especially in front of fans. I’d do anything she asked me to, and I’m certain the same is so of her players.

Carney and Casey Stoney – that she felt forced to resign from Man United is a crime – reckon Chelsea can be got at in wide areas, especially on the Emirates pitch, and wonder if Arsenal might be a bit narrow. On the other hand, they reckon the home side will be fitter, which should give them an advantage.

Eidevall says Chelsea have a strong starting XI and a strong bench, so he’s prepared his team for various different situations. Arsenal beat Chelsea in pre-season but he knows that this is a very different situation and is excited to see Iwabuchi and Miedema link up. He notes that the way Iwabuchi understands not just Miedema but the rest of the team, and the way they understand her, is impressive. Asked about Parris being on the bench, he says that the way his team finish is just as important as the way they start, and I doubt any defender will want to see her coming off the bench when they’re tiring after 70 minutes.

There’s something about Mason Greenwood that reminds me of Miedema, who Karen Carney says is the best finisher she’s ever seen in the women’s game. Her ability to generate power with minimal backlift, and to apply whatever finish a situation demands, but also run with the ball and bring others in to play is what does it.

Miedema tells Sky the change of manager has been refreshing – they way they play and train. “Being me comes with a bit of pressure and a bit of expectation,” she says. She also notes that she loves playing with Iwabuchi and they’ve a good connection on the pitch – she’s not bothered about scoring goals, she’s just as happy creating them.

It’s exciting to be playing at the Emirates, she reckons, and thinks Chelsea have the strongest squad in Europe, but notes that Arsenal have struggled with injuries – Jordan Nobbs, who’s had such bad luck lately, is again unavailable.

As for Chelsea, their bench is almost as telling as their first XI, a gathering of talent that enables Emma Hayes to keep the starters on their toes and change the flow of things should that not be to her taste. Arsenal will fancy finding joy against her back four, but her front six is of amusing quality and I’d expect if to be decisive this afternoon.

Arsenal don’t have Tobin available and leave Parris on the bench, but Iwabuchi starts the game in a tasty front three – Mead and Miedema aren’t just one of the game’s great sonic treats. Whether they can get enough of the ball depends on whether their midfield can compete, and though we know how good Kim Little is, we don’t know whether Lia Walti and Frida Maanum – another new arrival – can do enough. I’d also be worried their back four isn’t quite up to keeping Chelsea quiet, but when you have Miedema you have hope in any game.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Zinsberger; Maritz, Williamson, Beattie, McCabe; Walti, Maanum, Little; Iwabuchi, Miedema, Mead. Subs: Williams, Cull, Wubben-Moy, Patten, Goldie, Boye, Catley, Parris.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Berger; Carter, Bright, Eriksson, Charles; Ji, Leupolz, Cuthbert; Harder, England, Reiten. Subs: Musovic, Nouwen, Ingle, Kirby, Fleming, Kerr, Spence, Andersson, Fox.

At some point every summer fixtures are released for the forthcoming season, a reminder that the winter of the soul will soon be over and football will soon be back with us. And when that happens, there are games for which we look out, scanning the list with our mental Stabilo Boss and picking out our key encounters – it’s a rare pleasure.

Well, this time, not so much, because one of the definitive matches is about to happen right now, on the first weekend, and it should be a belter. Chelsea, defending champions and Champions League runners-up, already had the best manager and the best players before they went and augmented them with Aniek Nouwen and, most significantly, Lauren James. They’re not unbeatable, but it’ll take an extremely serious team to finish above them after 22 games.

Arsenal, though, will fancy a shy. Joe Montemurro did a terrific job in his time in charge, but probably picked the right time to turn it in, and it’s going to be a buzz to see what Jonas Eidevall makes of a highly talented squad. Vivianne Miedema is as good as anyone in the world, and though Danielle van de Donk has left, Mana Iwabuchi, Tobin Heath, signed on Friday, and Nikita Paris, are exciting acquisitions who should go a long way towards compensating. Don’t be going anywhere – other than to the Emirates.

Kick-off: 12.30pm BST