4 min: Around halfway, Lauren James does superbly to take a ball to feet, turn away from two or three would-be tacklers, and spread the play from Chelsea’s left to right. The move fizzles out but it’s a reminder, if Arsenal needed one, of James’s spectacular talent.
2 min: Arsenal start on the front foot, penning Chelsea in on the left wing for a spell and eventually winning a corner. Chloe Kelly bends in a good cross when the ball is worked out right, following the set-piece taken by Beth Mead. The Blues keeper Hannah Hampton dives on it, and Chelsea pass their first defensive test.
Go.
Here we go, then. The teams are out, the pre-match pleasantries are taking place, and kick-off is seconds away.
I should mention that Ellie Carpenter is indeed on the bench for Arsenal post-Asian Cup final.
