Preview: Leicester Women vs. Arsenal Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Arsenal Women will be looking to bounce back from their midweek Women's Champions League exit when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester Women for a Women's Super League contest on Sunday.

The Foxes, meanwhile, will be bereft of confidence after suffering a demoralising 9-0 defeat to Chelsea last weekend.

Match preview

Despite sitting eight points clear of the one and only relegation spot, Lydia Bedford's side will be in a downbeat mood after suffering four consecutive defeats in all competitions.

The latest of those losses occurred last weekend, and ahead of the clash with the reigning WSL champions, Leicester would have been concerned having lost 7-0 to Chelsea towards the end of February.

Those worries proved to be valid as the Foxes were trailing by four goals within 11 minutes of kickoff, with two more strikes following in the first period to give Chelsea a six-goal lead at the break.

A miserable afternoon would only deteriorate as Emma Hayes's side added three more to their tally before the final whistle.

Having conceded at least three goals in their previous four competitive matches, the Foxes will be wary of Arsenal's visit on Sunday, although they can at least take comfort from the fact that nine of their 11 points this season have come from home matches.

The visitors have not played a WSL game since a 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on March 13 after their North London Derby clash against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Tottenham squad.

With the derby encounter called off, Arsenal had a week to prepare for the second leg of their Women's Champions League quarter-final tie against Wolfsburg.

The Gunners travelled to Germany buoyed by Lotte Wubben-Moy's late equaliser in the first leg, but their trip proved to be fruitless, with former Arsenal player Jill Roord netting before Leah Williamson, unfortunately, directed the ball into her own net to give Wolfsburg a 2-0 win on the night and a 3-1 victory on aggregate.

Although their dreams of European glory may have evaporated, Arsenal are still firmly in the hunt for the WSL title, while they are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

They did, however, see Chelsea move above them into top spot last weekend and with the Gunners sitting a point behind their title rivals with five games remaining, they will be desperately seeking a fourth consecutive league victory on Sunday.

Leicester Women Women's Super League form:

Leicester Women form (all competitions):

Arsenal Women Women's Super League form:

Arsenal Women form (all competitions):

Team News

Leicester are without the services of Ashleigh Plumptre and Molly Pike, who were both forced off against Chelsea due to injury issues.

The pair join Abbie McManus on the sidelines, with the centre-back set to be absent once again after missing out against the WSL champions last weekend.

After coming into the starting lineup for the clash with Chelsea, Georgia Brougham is expected to keep her place in the side.

As for the Gunners, Lia Walti is expected to return after missing the trip to Germany, while Beth Mead was suspended for the second leg, but the England international will start on Sunday.

Injury is set to prevent Mana Iwabuchi and Rafaelle from participating, although Caitlin Foord will be included in the squad after returning from injury against Wolfsburg.

Vivianne Miedema is the second-highest scorer in the WSL this season, and the Netherlands international will look to add to her 10-goal league tally against Leicester.

Leicester Women possible starting lineup:

Lambourne; De Graaf, Howard, Brougham, Barker, Purfield; O'Brien, Tierney, Goodwin, Gregory; Flint

Arsenal Women possible starting lineup:

Zinsberger; Maritz, Wubben-Moy, Williamson, Catley; Little, Walti, Miedema; Mead, McCabe, Blackstenius

We say: Leicester Women 0-4 Arsenal Women

After suffering a dispiriting defeat last weekend, the last opponent that Leicester would have wanted to face in their next fixture was another title challenger, and with the Gunners motivated to keep pace with Chelsea, we think that they will ease past the Foxes on Sunday.