Arsenal have hit their stride. The Gunners’ 11-game unbeaten run in the Women’s Super League is their best stretch since 2022, arriving at the opportune time to salvage a season that risked petering out not long ago.
Much of Arsenal’s recent success has come from individuals upping their game; Chloe Kelly scored a hat-trick at the weekend after not finding the net in the league since October. There is also a sense that Arsenal have been subtly building towards a peak. After their WSL title charge faltered around Christmas with too many draws, few noticed the team’s steady rise as attention shifted to Manchester City’s likely title. That relative lack of spotlight has reduced pressure on Arsenal.
Beth Mead summed it up to Sky Sports: “The way we are playing is fun.” The forward has endured injury setbacks this season but returned earlier this month with familiar impact. Her late goal in a 5-0 win over West Ham epitomised that description: front-foot football, exciting combinations and plenty of goals, with players in sync.
Mead’s strike to finish the rout prompted the question of whether Arsenal should be taken more seriously in the hunt for silverware this term. She highlighted improved collaboration: “The collaboration has been better, in terms of putting people into positions where we see their super strengths. We’ve got everyone comfortable playing their best football and individuals have stepped up.” Mead said her own performance from the bench reflected this new sense of purpose and adventure.
The slick give-and-go with Smilla Holmberg that created Mead’s chance exemplified the levelling up. Arsenal had 11 efforts on target and scored five, a conversion rate of 45 per cent in that match — their season average is just over 12 per cent. Mead added: “We have always been creating chances but the onus has been much more on putting them away. We could have put games to bed but we let teams stay in it and then only come away with a draw. We’ve been cut-throat this year. That’s a big change.”
Under Renee Slegers, Arsenal remain European champions and will defend that title against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals. The longstanding domestic rivalry adds extra spice for Mead, who scored the opener when Arsenal beat Chelsea in January. “A quarter-final against anyone in the Champions League is exciting, but obviously Chelsea are close rivals and that makes it a bit more spicy, doesn’t it? We’re excited, we know Chelsea, they know us. It depends which team gets it right on the night. It should be a good statement for women’s football generally.”
Mead was instrumental in Arsenal’s ascent to continental champions last season, providing a match-winning pass in the final in Lisbon that unlocked Barcelona’s defence for Stina Blackstenius. Now 30, Mead leads Arsenal’s assist chart this season despite just 10 league starts, and her shooting accuracy is second only to Blackstenius. But personal accolades matter less; results are the real currency.
“Each game is a stepping stone, it’s annoyingly cliche but it has to be like that. We have to stay focussed on the next game, what we want from it, how we set up tactically to get the result. We can’t control what other teams do so we concentrate on what is in front of us,” Mead said. “Of course we would love to get to both finals, the FA Cup and Champions League. When you play for Arsenal you want to compete in every competition until the end. That has not changed. We will be pushing to bring a trophy home this season.”
Creatively, Mead remains one of Slegers’ most reliable outlets. With a squad full of big-impact players, Slegers can stay tactically flexible without compromising performance. If Arsenal can maintain their form across a season-defining week — facing Chelsea midweek and a north London derby with Tottenham on Saturday, both live on Sky Sports — Mead is likely to play a key role. The campaign has reached a cliff-edge phase, and Mead is clearly psyched.