Arsenal claimed a hard-fought away win at Anfield courtesy of an Alessia Russo brace either side of half-time. The win ensured that Renée Slegers’ team remained six points behind third-placed London City Lionesses, with a chance to close the gap when the sides meet in a north-versus-south London derby next weekend.
That London City game will come just three days after a rematch of the 2025 Champions League final against Barcelona, forming another pivotal week in Arsenal’s season.
Arsenal and Slegers can take positives and negatives from the performance, but their recent upturn in results has been driven by one thing above all: having an in-form goalscorer.
It wasn’t long ago that Alessia Russo’s early-season struggles had some supporters questioning her status as one of the first names on Slegers’ teamsheet. Off the back of the best goalscoring season of her career in 2025-26, the England international forward failed to find the net in her first five games of this campaign.
That now feels like a lifetime ago. Russo has scored 12 goals in her last nine appearances for club and country, finding the net in eight of them. Arsenal’s reliance on her is underlined by the fact that she has scored each of their last seven goals in all competitions.
The parameters of the debate around Russo have quickly shifted from whether Arsenal were platforming her, to whether they are now over-reliant on the 27-year-old. Russo has enjoyed this rich vein of form while predominantly playing in the number-10 position. After her recent hat-trick against Benfica, Slegers played down the debate around Russo’s position, describing her as a “nine-and-a-half”.
