How Arsenal could line up in the 2024-25 season: Who is Beth Mead's competition and where do the new signings fit in?

Arsenal fans have still to see Van Domselaar in action and yet it feels like the No.1 spot will be hers. The Gunners have been in the market for a new goalkeeper for a while now and the fact that they have signed one of Europe’s most promising shot-stoppers, after being heavily linked with Mary Earps for a long time before she joined Paris Saint-Germain, suggests that Eidevall hasn’t been searching for someone to simply provide depth behind Manuela Zinsberger.

The Austria international has been harshly criticised at times in her Arsenal career, with a shaky defence not helping her case, but the commanding of her box can be inconsistent and lead to errors. She still has a huge role to play at the club and will get chances to shine, but Van Domselaar is likely to receive the larger bulk of starts.

That might not be the case this week, with the Dutchwoman not featuring in pre-season as she works her way to full fitness, and Zinsberger will be keen to make a statement if she instead gets the nod in Arsenal’s European qualifiers. Over time, though, Van Domselaar looks set to come out on top in this positional battle.

Emily Fox has been superb since arriving at the club in January and is one of the best in the world in her position, so should continue to keep her spot in Arsenal’s first choice XI locked down.

The United States star won’t play every game, especially when factoring in those trans-Atlantic flights for international duty, and that’s where Laura Wienroither will provide good depth and a more than capable option for rotation. But Fox is certainly on top in the pecking order.

There are a few differences for Arsenal when it comes to their centre-back options this season. Leah Williamson is back to full fitness after an ACL injury, but Amanda Ilestedt will miss at least the majority of the campaign after announcing her pregnancy in March. That, then, gives promising teenager Katie Reid a chance to be in the picture for minutes when Arsenal rotate, the young defender having impressed plenty in pre-season.

However, when it comes to the regular starting roles, it’ll be Williamson, Laia Codina and Lotte Wubben-Moy battling it out, and the latter should rack up plenty of games as she looks to build on a fantastic 2023-24 campaign. In Williamson’s absence, the England defender was superb for the Gunners, showing her qualities as a footballer and a leader.

Williamson found things difficult upon her return from that devastating knee injury last season, but this pre-season campaign has allowed her to shake off any rust as she prepares to get stuck back into competitive action, a luxury she wasn’t afforded by her January comeback. As the summer has progressed, Williamson has looked sharper and sharper, which certainly bodes well for Arsenal moving into 2024-25.

Codina, also battling for minutes here, should improve this season after some tricky moments in her first year in England and she will hope to showcase her qualities in a bid for regular starts when given the chance. Still, it seems likely that Eidevall’s first choice centre-back pair will consist of Williamson and Wubben-Moy.

This is one of the positions in this Arsenal XI that doesn’t feel like it has a nailed on starter, and it’s difficult to use last season as a guide to understand whether it is Katie McCabe or Steph Catley who Eidevall prefers at left-back. That’s because both played no fewer than four different roles last season, with absences forcing the Gunners to rejig things regularly.

Catley made 12 of her 17 WSL starts in 2023-24 at left-back, played three times as a centre-back and also featured in a back three and as a wing-back early on in the year. McCabe started 19 WSL games: eight at left-back, eight at right-back, two on the right wing and one as a wing-back.

Both are important senior players with a wealth of experience and different qualities that benefit the team. McCabe’s role as one of the club captains highlights how important she is to this team, though, and that contributes to her feeling slightly ahead in the pecking order when it comes to a best XI, even if both will get plenty of game time throughout 2024-25.

Injury limited Lia Walti to just 13 starts in the league last season, but she should remain a lynchpin of this Arsenal side in 2024-25. The most natural deep-lying midfielder in the squad, the Switzerland international brings plenty of quality in possession to the team from this role and is an extremely important player in Arsenal’s build-up play, particularly with her ability to use both feet flawlessly.

One would expect a little more competition for her place from Kyra Cooney-Cross this time around, the 22-year-old Australia star who only started five league games last season. However, while that number will surely rise, Walti is likely to remain first-choice for the time being.

When Walti was fit, she started in a double pivot with Victoria Pelova for the majority of the season and Kim Little played regularly ahead of the two. Pelova, though, ruptured her ACL while on international duty in June and is likely to miss most of the 2024-25 campaign as a result, so there is a spot in Arsenal’s midfield up for grabs.

As well as Cooney-Cross, Kathrine Kuhl will be battling for that place, having started both games on the pre-season tour of the U.S. and Arsenal's final friendly against Southampton, after spending the second half of last season on loan at Everton. That certainly suggests that Eidevall sees the 21-year-old as having a more involved role this time around.

However, the most likely scenario is for Little, the club captain who can play any midfield role, to drop back to partner Walti and free up that No.10 role for someone else to claim instead.

If there was one big winner from Arsenal’s pre-season campaign, it was Kafaji. The 21-year-old, who signed from Swedish side Hacken this summer, has thrived in the Gunners’ friendlies to stake a huge claim for the No.10 role in this XI, with her looking to have the edge over Frida Maanum as the season approaches.

That said, it’s likely Eidevall will alternate between the two depending on what he wants from the player in this position. Kafaji is an intricate footballer who has the ability to execute those delicate touches and passes that can break down a defence, one thing Arsenal really lacked last season. Maanum, on the other hand, is superb at those deep runs from midfield, able to emerge unmarked and get on the end of chances in a devastating fashion. She’s also well-drilled in Eidevall’s pressing demands.

There are other options here – Little can play higher, as can Kuhl – but it feels like it is a role that will be regularly split between Kafaji and Maanum, with the former in pole position as the season begins.

While there is plenty of competition for most of the places in this Arsenal team, it’s on the right wing where that is not exactly the case. Beth Mead is the standalone natural in this position, while there are players that can adapt to fill this role, such as McCabe, Kuhl, Caitlin Foord and, when fit, Lina Hurtig, but the main rival for Mead last season was Cloe Lacasse, who was sold to the Utah Royals this summer after just one year at the club.

If something makes the England star unavailable for a stretch, it could upset and offset the balance of the team, with it clear that Mead is one of the most important players for Arsenal to keep healthy throughout the 2024-25 season, even if there are senior players capable of filling in briefly.

Keep an eye out here for some potential academy talent, though. The WSL transfer window doesn’t close until September 13, so there could be loans lined up yet, but Freya Godfrey and Vivienne Lia both showed some nice glimpses on the right in pre-season and could get opportunities when the time is right.

There have been times when Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius have started alongside each other for Arsenal, with Eidevall occasionally setting his team up in a three-at-the-back formation during his tenure. However, despite them showing some nice glimpses when on the pitch together, that system doesn’t seem to be on the table for the time being and, with Miedema gone, it’ll be a battle between the pair to be Arsenal’s No.9.

At the moment, Russo leads that race. She started 20 WSL games to Blackstenius’ seven last season, had an impressive pre-season and is further ahead of her Swedish team-mate in terms of fitness, with Blackstenius only able to play 20 minutes of action in the summer. It does feel like it’ll take something significant for that to change throughout the campaign, too, even if the latter will get opportunities.

Young Michelle Agyemang is another centre-forward in this squad, but it seems likely that she will spend the upcoming campaign on loan again, as she looks to build on her very exciting potential.

Foord started 18 of Arsenal’s 22 league games last season and all of those saw her operate as a left winger, but she will have some tough competition for her place this season from summer signing Mariona. The 28-year-old was outstanding as Barcelona won the quadruple for the first time on the women’s side last year, scoring 27 goals and providing 23 assists across a season that also saw her win the Nations League with Spain.

This is a position that is likely to see a fair bit of rotation, though. That’s because Foord is also a top-quality option and because the two players are so different. Mariona spends a lot of time drifting centrally, whereas Foord is more of an out-and-out winger who will drive at full-backs and take them on.

In that sense, it’s likely that Eidevall may prefer one over the other for different opposition and different game plans, though Mariona’s world-class qualities have to mark her out as the go-to choice for this best XI.