Arroyo keen to see Aston Villa compete with Arsenal at Villa Park | OneFootball

Aston Villa head coach Natalia Arroyo says that competing with Arsenal is the next challenge for her team.

The Villans are assured of Barclays Women’s Super League football in 2025/2026 following the weekend’s results. Despite having achieved safety, the hard work doesn’t stop with Aston Villa now set to face UEFA Women’s Champions League finalists Arsenal at Villa Park this evening.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Aston Villa boss Arroyo said that the pressure is now off her side but they still want to achieve more before the end of the season.

“We were trying to find the balance between our long term goals and the short term mission,” Arroyo said. “Now, we have a little bit of relief [with safety] and we can start accelerating some of the processes that we have on the table.

“We feel better now that the relegation worries are behind us. We still need to be committed, working hard, believing and fighting with the same energy as the last game.

“We will try to keep the good things and go into the final three games with the ambition to try things, to show up and to win.”

Going on to discuss this evening’s opponents Arsenal, Arroyo congratulated The Gunners on their achievements and said that her side must now look to compete with the North Londoners.

She said “I would like to say congratulations to them. It’s good for our league to have our teams there [in the latter stages]. It shows the power of this league and that’s a good thing. Renée [Slegers] is doing an amazing job.

“In our position, let’s hope that they are celebrating this historic moment and maybe they’re not as focused, but I don’t expect that. They have an amazing squad, they are building and have kept with the idea of competing and being strong every day. I expect a good version of Arsenal.

“We will suffer at some points because they are attacking amazingly. In my opinion, they are the best team when it comes to creating chances and having fluidity. It will be tough for us to keep a high press and stay compact but we will have our chances. We need to be brave with the ball, make them run and make them suffer a little bit. Let’s see if we can compete with one of the top teams in this league, that’s our challenge.”

Under Arroyo’s leadership, Aston Villa are yet to deliver a big performance at Villa Park. The Spaniard wants her side to increase their standards on home soil.

She said “Our fans deserve our best version at Villa Park and we are not showing that. We need to put the standards higher and we need to compete against everybody. Arsenal are the next test and we know that they are one of the best.”

Aston Villa’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal kicks-off at 6pm. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.