HB Koge v Arsenal: Women’s Champions League – live!

6 min Foord puts Markvardsen under pressure, nicking the ball away just outside the box and looking to spank what’d be a wondrous finish back inside the near post. t’s a decent effort too, but flies a foot wide.

5 min Pokorny eases down the right and crosses seeking Carusa, but Williams is on hand to intervene.

3 min Koge are still boxed; this has been as confident a start from Arsenal as you’d expect, Williamson striding forward and banging a crossfield pass. But Maanum’s ball in behind runs away fro Parris, allowing Marckese out to smother.

1 min The pitch looks extremely artificial, which should help Koge, but Arsenal quickly have them under pressure, winning the ball high and probing, before Maritz’s pass runs into touch, too strong for Parris,

The average age of Koge’s side is 22, so they should be fit enough to chase for 90 minutes – the likelihood is that they’ll have to.

Four hundred and fifty Arsenal fans have made the trip to near Copenhagen, which should give the game a decent edge. Sounds better than a box room in north London, that’s for sure.

The game, by the way is available for free on DAZN’s YouTube channel – though for some reason it’s not yet started despite promising to do so a few minutes ago.

I’m looking forward to seeing Nikita Parris tonight, who was always a talent but looks to be really coming into her own as a player now. Her ability to shift it or beat players could be crucial against a blanket defence, but every time I think about who might do what, I remember that Arsenal have Miedema and whatever happens will most likely come on her account.

The state of play in Group C:

Barcelona P2 Pts 6

Arsenal P2 Pts 6

Hoffenheim P2 Pts 3

HB Koge P2 Pts 0

Also going on: an arse-nipper of burgeoning intensity.

I doubt Koge are keen to see the return of Miedema, who didn’t play for Holland after missing Brighton in the cup – she came on as sub at the weekend. Or is she now so good that opponents are disappointed when she’s not involved, because at some point they’ll want to tell their grandkids they were on the pitch with her?

Arsenal, meanwhile, make six changes, which shows us how strong their squad is, but also that Eidevall reckons he can get a result without picking his best XI. Zinsberger, McCabe, Wubben-Moy, Iwabuchi, Little and Mead, all of whom played against West Ham at the weekend, are on the bench tonight, with Williams, Boye, Catley, Walti, Nobbs and Miedema coming in.

Koge make one change to the team which lost at home to Barcelona, Sajewich replacing the injured Fitzgerald.

HB Køge (a blanketing 5-4-1): Marckese; Markvardsen, Obaze, Guldbjerg, Svendsen, Faerge; Floe Nielsen, Sajewich, Jankovska, Pokorny; Carusa. Subs: Vingum Andersen, Solgaard Sorensen, Uhre Nielsen, Nowak, Romero, Thrane Hornemann, Walter, Ostenfeld, Brahe Andersen, Kramer, Wik, Adler.

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

Under the guidance of their new manager, Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal have made a sensational start to the season. In their first league game, they played Chelsea off the park in a classic and have won every domestic fixture since, the 5-0 smashing of Man City 5-0 a particular highlight, and now sit top of the table with a cup final coming up.

Eidevall’s role in all this should not be underestimated. Joe Montemurro also deserves credit, bequeathing a squad of ridiculous talent, but Eidevall bought well in the summer and since then has husbanded his resources expertly, rejuvenating Beth Mead in particular and rotating his cast without losing cohesion.

Nevertheless, his side endured an unpleasant shock when facing Barcelona last month, the defending champions dispensing a 5-0 hiding that showed just how far Arsenal still have to go. But it’s only November, giving Eidevall has plenty of time to make the necessary adjustments and improvements, but in the meantime his charges need to secure qualification for the last eight. And, though Køge were battered in Hoffenheim, they only lost 2-0 at home to Barcelona and have won 11 of their 12 league games, so won’t be short of confidence. It’s on!

Kick-off: 6.45pm local, 5.45pm GMT