Arsenal head to Manchester City knowing defeat would leave them 10 points adrift in the WSL

Slegers's side cannot afford another slip at the Etihad

Renée Slegers's Gunners already trail WSL leaders Manchester City by seven points going into Sunday's meeting at the Etihad (4.30pm BST), and a defeat would leave last season's runners-up 10 points off the top after only five games, following their 1-0 defeat at Chelsea last weekend. With only two wins registered this season, a victory is vital for Slegers and her side.

Midweek offered little comfort. Arsenal let slip a two-goal lead in their 2-2 Champions League draw with Paris FC, a match memorable for a bizarre mistake by Leah Williamson, who gave away a late penalty by putting her hand on the ball from a goal-kick. Slegers's side did at least score twice for the first time in six fixtures.

The build-up has been coloured by the furore around the club's devastating guilty verdict on more than 100 Premier League charges for the systemic breaking of financial monitoring rules, which has cast a pall over the hosts' season. The women's team is not implicated in the findings and impressed on Thursday in their 1-1 Champions League draw with Real Madrid. Rob Smyth keeps the updates flowing from 4.30pm.