Wednesday’s suspenseful but ultimately triumphant Conti Cup semi-final was only the warm-up for Arsenal's double-header against Manchester City, or so that was the sentiment elicited from City boss Gareth Taylor after Stina Blackstenius clinched the win in extra-time to fire the Gunners into the final against Chelsea.
And Jonas Eidevall did not feign ignorance at the task at hand come Saturday lunch time when Arsenal are set to line up against City once more.
Rather than a place in the final on the line, a critical step towards the league title will be up for grabs. Arsenal sit third in the league, above City on goal difference but with a game in hand.
Despite the victory on Wednesday night and the mental advantage it carries, the Swede maintained that either side could have emerged victorious, and Saturday’s fixture will come down to the smallest of margins.
"Yeah, I think we knew that we could get the victory over them," he told Arsenal’s club website. "But it's about understanding that it's going to be a really even game on Saturday as well. It's going to be small margins, small details just like it was [Wednesday]."
When asked whether a tactical advantage exists when playing a team in such quick succession, Eidevall insisted that the advantage ultimately boils down to the players.
"I don't know yet what I'm going to do," Eidevall admitted. "It's gonna be a good guessing game for them. I think that's also part of the reason why it's important to have two different systems to make it harder for opponents to prepare for us. Because if we know how we can use it, the opponents will never know for sure when we'll decide to use one or the other.
"That makes their preparation much, much harder. So that's part of the reason. But I think it's mostly up to what the players do on an individual basis now to recover. Like who's the best at eating? Who's the best at sleeping? Who's the best at taking ice baths? You have to be a world champion in those things here now, for Thursday and Friday. That's what is going to make a big difference on Saturday."
Victory away at the Academy Stadium would almost certainly knock City out of the league running, and keep Arsenal in good stead to keep challenging Chelsea who sit five points clear at the table’s top.
Nevertheless, the task is daunting for Eidevall and co. City are riding a 13-match unbeaten run at home this season and if City felt encouraged to seek comfort in history, this fixture certainly provides some.
City are unbeaten in their last five home WSL matches against Arsenal, with four wins and a draw to their name since a 1-0 defeat in May 2017.
Man City kick-off against Arsenal at 12:00pm on Saturday.
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