One of big strengths in squad – Slegers on Smith’s new role

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers says Olivia Smith’s prowess as a central striker offers her side “versatility” as they aim to continue their strong 2026 when they visit Brighton on Sunday [BBC iPlayer, 14:30 GMT].

The 21-year-old was moved off the right wing and scored the only goal in last weekend’s win over leaders Manchester City.

She stayed there for the Champions League tie at OH Leuven in midweek, again scoring and proving an able deputy for main striker Stina Blackstenius, absent with a calf injury.

Smith used her lightning speed to race past Manchester City defender Rebecca Knaak for the matchwinner at Emirates Stadium, before showing her positional awareness and timing of movement to produce a poacher’s finish in the side’s 4-0 Champions League win on Wednesday.

“We’ve seen a couple of things that are new to us [about Smith] and that is the beautiful part,” Slegers said.

“She is obviously a very good dribbler but what she does really well in those central spaces is combining with Alessia [Russo] and Frida [Maanum] in the number 10 role behind, they have some great combinations.

“Her timing and movement is really good and she is such an explosive player so anything that drops in the box she is so quick to react.”

With Blackstenius still sidelined, and Beth Mead unavailable with a hairline fracture to her shin, Smith is likely to be used in the central role once more when the Gunners head to the south coast this weekend.

Hosts Brighton ran out 4-2 winners at Broadfield Stadium in this fixture last season, though they come into the contest in poor form with four defeats from their past five league outings.

Conversely, Arsenal are aiming for a third WSL win in a row and are unbeaten in the league since October.

When asked what she was expecting from the Seagulls this time round, Slegers said: “They have had a challenging run but I think they are a good team. Last year away wasn’t a good performance and we lost that game, so we know what they can do.

“They have an aggressive press but last time round when we played them away they did something completely different. We will see what their game plan is.

“As a team, we are in a better place than we were a year ago. That has all gone into our backpack so we know we have all of those experiences of how to deal with different moments as a team.”