The rivalry between Emma Hayes and Jonas Eidevall has ebbed and flowed. Their first meeting after the Swede’s arrival in north London in 2021 saw an unimpressed Hayes looking on as Eidevall wildly celebrated Arsenal’s 3-2 opening day defeat of Chelsea at the Emirates.
The image of Eidevall sinking to his knees, fists clenched and mouth wide, has somewhat haunted him since the manager’s admission of his black cat superstition led to Hayes’s cheeky reply that her side had “purred” during their 3-0 FA Cup final triumph in December 2021.
“Sometimes when I am driving I reroute a couple of miles if I see one,” Eidevall had said. “I feel a bit silly when I am doing it but it’s something I can control. If Emma [Hayes] sees this she will probably buy a thousand black cats with the money Chelsea have and send them all over our training pitch.”
As the end of Eidevall’s second season in charge draws closer it is apparent that a mutual respect has developed between the managers.
Before Sunday’s lunchtime meeting that could move Chelsea closer to a fourth consecutive league title and third back-to-back double or Arsenal nearer to Champions League football, there was even some sympathy from Hayes for her counterpart.
Eidevall’s side have been battered past the point of breaking this season as player after player has fallen to injury.
Yet somehow the remaining players have gelled, the pieces not always in the right places, but effective enough for there to be minimal leaks.
Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither suffered ACL ruptures, while Kim Little, Lia Wälti, Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord have sat out significant chunks of the season.
Chelsea have had their own woes, with Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder missing for much of the campaign and Millie Bright limping towards the World Cup on crutches, but Arsenal’s struggles with injuries have been extraordinary. “I think Arsenal have shown their spirit, their qualities, even with their injuries,” said Hayes before the crunch tie at Kingsmeadow.
“They are a top team. They’re deserving of all of the good stories that have come their way. I think they’ve been a fantastic team this year, and they’ve shown that through adversity, they can cope, and they have players that can step up.
“I know Jonas will probably be proud of his team for that reason so I think it’ll be a cracker, two top teams on the show. And I hope the sun’s out at half 12.”
That could be read two ways – as the dismissal of a rival team that no longer pose a threat, or as genuine admiration for what has been achieved with forces so weakened. The latter sentiment seems the more likely.
Arsenal have shown resilience, winning the Continental League Cup with a blistering 3-1 defeat of Hayes’s Blues, narrowly missing out on a first Champions League final since 2007 to Wolfsburg and staying in the title race right to the end of the season.
As player upon player has exited for the stands through injury there has been a feeling each time that it was one too many, but without Mead and Miedema the Gunners won the League Cup, without Little they progressed to the Champions League semi-final, and without Williamson they came admirably close to the final itself.
Whether Wälti’s absence, after she fell under a heavy challenge from Aggie Beever-Jones in Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat of Everton, is one too many for this challenge is hard to say, because Eidevall’s side keep making possible the seemingly impossible.
For Hayes, in a season that has lacked the rhythm of recent campaigns with the Sam Kerr, Kirby and Harder partnerships often unavailable, another league title from an increasingly competitive four-horse race would be a hugely impressive achievement.
Beat Arsenal and Hayes’s team could be WSL champions before the end of the day. Hayes will not be watching to see if Manchester United drop points at home to Manchester City in the later kick-off, though: she has promised her son Harry a new bike and an afternoon out on it with his cousins. “I’ll get a message,” she said.
