Arsenal climb to 3rd in the Champions League following Benfica win

Arsenal defeated Benfica on Wednesday 3-0 thanks to an Alessia Russo hat-trick, climbing to third in the Champions League table. It seems Arsenal have started to turn things round after a poor start of the 2026/27 season.

With two wins in a row, for the first time this season the momentum is positive. The next league game against Villa needs to see another win, if the performance is consistent and good enough.

There are certainly some improvements in term of attacking a low block seen against Benfica, while we saw against Spurs a fighting spirit and mentality. We have seen an evolution in the starting XI with the left wing occupied by Taylor Hinds and Caitlin Foord.

I don't think the front two selection benefits Smith, but it certainly works out very well for Russo and it benefits the team overall. We saw a first start from Geraldine Reuteler and Elisa de Almeida.

Reuteler bizzarely positioned on the right-wing, staying most of the time in the half-space. At the same time, she is a central player, so putting her out of position for her first start was surprising.

De Almeida did the job, I spoke to her after the game in the mixed zone and she was happy with her performance. She praised all her teammate saying how important the communication had been with Steph Catley in preparation for the game.

She mentioned Misa Rodriguez and Ona Batlle too. Frida Maanum should be in the squad on Sunday against Villa.

Mariona Caldentey, Chloe Kelly, Michelle Agyemang and Selina Cerci are also injured. Daphne van Domselaar is very close to being able to play a game.

Agsint Villa, three points are a must to climb up the table and get closer to third place in the WSL as well as the following Sunday away to Liverpool. Then a three-game stretch will define most of the season with Barcelona away, London City Lionesses at home and Lyon at home.