Bayern vs Arsenal LIVE: Women’s Champions League team news and line-ups as Leah Williamson and Caitlin Foord start

Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich on Wednesday as they get their Women’s Champions League campaign underway at the FC Bayern Campus.

The Gunners have had a mixed start to the WSL season with two draws and just one win from their opening three games. The win was a narrow 1-0 success over Leicester while they drew 2-2 with Manchester City and 0-0 with Everton at the weekend.

They have also played four qualifying matches to reach this stage of the Champions League after finishing third in the Women’s Super League last season, behind Chelsea and City.

They beat Rangers 6-0 and Rosenborg 1-0 before overcoming another Swedish side in Hacken 4-1 on aggregate in a two-legged affair.

Arsenal lost the away leg against Hacken 1-0 and betting sites are forecasting another tough European away trip with Bayern a best-price of 11/8 for the win.

Among that Bayern lineup there will be a few familiar names to WSL viewers – Pernille Harder joined from Chelsea in 2023, scoring 13 in 23 last term amid a couple of injuries.

And Georgia Stanway, anyone?!

The club vice-captain and England Lionesses star joined in the summer of 2022, with two titles to her name since venturing across to Germany.

This term she has started with an eye for goal too – four in six so far.

Last night’s Champions League results:

And tonight’s fixtures…

We’ll have coverage of Man City against the reigning champions here on the Independent tonight too, kicking off at 8pm BST.

Bayern: Grohs, Viggosdottir, Hansen, Gwinn, Damnjanovic, Lohmann, Buhl, Harder, Zadrazil, Simon, Stanway.

Arsenal: Zinsberger, Fox, Codina, Williamson, Mariona, Little, McCabe, Maanum, Walti, Foord, Blackstenius.

At full-time at the Emirates on Sunday, the deflation among the Arsenal fans was such that a 0-0 draw against Everton was greeted with a shrug and a sigh before a slow trudge home through the damp October mist. This was not how they envisioned starting a major week in the club’s season. Rather than bouncing into the start of the Women’s Champions League, Arsenal slumped to a dispiriting goalless draw at home. “We are disappointed with the result and the performance,” said Jonas Eidevall, unable to hide from what was clearly evident.

Then came the warning. “I think it is going to be a tough, challenging Women’s Super League this season, probably the toughest one we have ever had,” the Arsenal manager added. Their next fixtures may illustrate why. On Wednesday, the Gunners face the trip to Bayern Munich in their opening match of the Women’s Champions League group stage. Then on Saturday, Arsenal host London rivals Chelsea at the Emirates in one of their biggest games of the season. Given Arsenal’s start, it could be filed under “must not lose”, too.

Jamie Braidwood on Arsenal’s European adventure:

We’re only a week on from the Arsenal manager hitting out at the WSL for poor scheduling – feeling the English game, perhaps, should emulate some of those in Europe to give teams a better chance of succeeding.

The two clubs had been due to meet at Kingsmeadow on Sunday in a marquee clash, but the encounter was called off at short notice due to concerns over player welfare.

Arsenal and Manchester City joined Sonia Bompastor’s side in reaching the group stages; like Chelsea, they were played their weekend WSL fixture on Sunday, resulting in a tight turnaround.

A quick look at the domestic form of both clubs so far this season, then:

Bayern are five from five so far in the Frauen-Bundesliga, with 18 goals scored during that 100% start.

Additionally they won the Super Cup against Wolfsburg, 1-0, and thrashed Sand in the cup.

Arsenal sit sixth after three WSL games: one win and two draws, with the first of those being a thrilling 2-2 with Man City.

They also saw off Rangers (6-0), Rosenborg (1-0) and Hacken (4-1 on aggregate) to reach the groups in Europe.

It has been a decade of quite impressive consistency for Arsenal Women in the WSL – though sadly that has been at a slightly lower level than they’d ideally like, more often than not.

Since 2013, they have finished precisely third in the table on no fewer than nine occasions – with a fourth, a second and a single title win in 2019 making up the rest of the past decade or so.

They retained the League Cup last season, however, and also went all the way to the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League last season – beaten 5-4 on aggregate by Wolfsburg in the end.

Arsenal head into their Champions League opener on the back of a difficult weekend; in the pouring rain and against a stubborn defence, they were held at bay and drew 0-0 with Everton at the Emirates.

While far from a devastating blow to their title hopes, Jonas Eidevall will know they can’t give up too many points on home turf if they want to seriously challenge Man City and Chelsea.

Tonight, though, attention turns to Europe.

But Bayern, Juventus and Valeranga represent dangerous opposition for the London club, with the German side winning the Frauen Bundesliga without losing a game last season.

The Bavarians are five from five in the league so far and will start their continental campaign full of confidence.

Here’s everything you need to know.