Stina Blackstenius may have more appearances from the bench than in the starting lineup for Arsenal this season but the forward is making the minutes she is given count. She is their top goalscorer with 14 and has the most goal involvements with 15. The Sweden international has made 25 appearances for her club in this campaign, 10 starts and 15 from the bench. Her appearances as a substitute have risen significantly from last season. In the 2022-23 campaign Blackstenius made a total of 39 appearances and just five of those were from the bench.
Arsenal have a good problem in terms of the amount of forward talent they have in the squad. Blackstenius, Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord and Alessia Russo are just a few of the players the manager, Jonas Eidevall, has to pick from. The return of Mead and Vivianne Miedema from knee injuries and Russo’s introduction to the team this season after she signed from Manchester United has added to the competition for starting places. Russo’s signing in particular has affected Blackstenius as Russo plays in her preferred No 9 position.
“It’s been tough, of course, I haven’t played as much as I did last season,” the 28-year-old says. “We have a really competitive squad with so much quality within the team. Of course it is tough to not play as much as you want to. [I] try to do the very best I can with the minutes I get … I feel like we are all pretty different in how we are playing. You can always learn and grow playing with these players but then also remember you are really different [too].”
Among her 14 goals this season was the first-half hat-trick she scored in the Continental League Cup semi-final against Aston Villa which helped secure Arsenal’s spot in the final against Chelsea on Sunday. The last time they played their London rivals was as fortnight ago in the league where Emma Hayes’ team blew them away 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal have defeated Chelsea this season in the league’s reverse fixture and overcame them in last year’s League Cup final – where Blackstenius also scored – and so she hopes the team can take confidence from those results. She does admit though Arsenal will look at the final as a chance to right some wrongs from the recent defeat.
“I can’t say anything else than it was a tough game, it was a tough result to take,” she says. “We weren’t happy with the performance. I guess we get a new opportunity now to get things right. I think it gives you a feeling that you want to get things right again. You get a new opportunity to play a better game than you did last time.”
The results and performances throughout the season have not been completely consistent from Arsenal; they are six points off of the top of the WSL table and they have also been knocked out of the FA Cup and Women’s Champions League. Players could feel pressure in bringing home the trophy with the League Cup looking like their only chance for silverware this season, but Blackstenius and the rest of the club are viewing things in a different light.
She says: “I wouldn’t say it is extra pressure, more [of a sense of] it gets really important for us to know we have a trophy to play for.”
Though results may not be consistent, the club can always count on fierce support. Arsenal have the highest average attendance in the English women’s top flight and have sold out the Emirates this season. The club’s average attendance of 34,997, as reported earlier in March, is also larger than 10 Premier League clubs. The League Cup final is being held at Molineux and Blackstenius says the team will need their fans to arrive in their droves.
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“I feel it is always huge for us to play in front of a big crowd and feel we have the support from the fans,” she says. “That is something they have done so well this season and I feel they have given us so much during the season so far and I am sure they will support us in this game as well. No matter if it has been Meadow Park or the Emirates I feel we have felt their support. It is important we appreciate the support we get, for this game I feel like we need it more than ever.”
Every encounter between Arsenal and Chelsea has twists, turns and some cracking goals and with Blackstenius’ form this season she is more than likely to have an effect on the outcome of the game. She may not top her best goal of the season so far, nutmegging three players in Arsenal’s WSL match against Villa last Sunday, but it is a cup final so anything could happen.