Arsenal and City have always been two of the key contenders for the Barclays Women’s Super league title each season.
And in 2025/26, the Gunners pushed us to our limits as City became WSL champions for the first time in a decade.
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Renee Slegers’ side finished second, four points behind Andrée Jeglertz’s impressive outfit that also secured a historic double as we went on to lift the prestigious FA Cup trophy.
And for Japan international Fujino, that rivalry has been palpable in every clash, and she expects Sunday’s encounter to be no different.
“Last year we fought against each other to win the title, and I felt a very strong rivalry between us,” began Fujino.
“Arsenal is a very, very important opponent to play against, no matter where we played, it’s early stage or later stage [of the season]. We have to play our football and win games.”
Our two league encounters with Arsenal last season saw us earn three points out of six.
The first was a dramatic win on home soil. Iman Beney’s close-range strike just before the full-time whistle sent the Joie Stadium into a frenzy as City earned a vital win against our title rivals.
In the reverse fixture in February, Olivia Smith’s first-half goal was the difference as City fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the Emirates.
And despite Arsenal’s rocky start to the new season, in which they sit seventh with five points heading into Sunday’s clash, Fujino says City are aware of the threat the Gunners pose.
“Arsenal is a very high-level opponent, and they have ability to get the very small chances to score the goals,” the forward explainer.
“What we have to do is that we shouldn’t give them any times [on the ball].
And we have very top-level attackers of the world, so we have to play our own football and try to eliminate all the chances for them. That’s very important that we learn from the previous game [defeat at the Emirates].”
