Katie McCabe has said that Arsenal are jealous of Chelsea‘s sustained success in the Women’s Super League (WSL) and that it ‘hurts’ to see them lift the trophy.
“It always hurts [seeing Chelsea lift title],” McCabe said. “You want that to be you. You are in a team sport to be lifting trophies with your teammates.
“Of course you are envious of them being successful. What we can do is focus on ourselves and put one foot in front of the other. Hopefully, by the end of the season, that will be us.”
Arsenal will face their London rivals at the Emirates on Saturday following their 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the UWCL on Wednesday.
The north London side are back competing in the Champions League this season after failing to qualify in the 2023-24 season
McCabe said Arsenal “relish” competing in all competitions and have the depth to tackle the busy schedule.
“You want to be playing a lot of games,” she said. “Of course five games in 15 days is a lot but that is the beauty of playing in a big squad as well, the strength in depth that we have.
“If the manager needs to rotate we know anyone can come in and do a good job. It is a challenge that we look at and relish rather than shying away from it.”
Chelsea, who are under new management, sit second in the WSL standings having played one game fewer due to a match postponement. Arsenal are in sixth with five points from three games.
Arsenal will be mimic their performance in the 4-1 victory against the reigning champions from last season.
“We take those moments as positives and bring it in and really instil that winning mentality into the team,” McCabe said.
“We already did it last year, so it’s not a new thing for us. It is about controlling ourselves, controlling our game plan and what we want to do in the game and applying it. And going in with the right attitude of course.”
