Vivianne Miedema closes in on return from ACL injury as Jonas Eidevall talks up Alessia Russo partnership

Miedema could feature against Bristol City this weekend after 10 months out with a serious knee injury

Arsenal star Vivianne Miedema could make her first appearance in 10 months when the Gunners travel to Bristol City on Sunday.

Miedema ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee last December, forcing her to miss this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The striker was called up to the Netherlands squad this week, though, for Nations League matches against Scotland later this month.

And boss Jonas Eidevall has revealed that Miedema could make her Arsenal comeback before that on Sunday when the Gunners face Bristol City in the Women’s Super League.

“They (the Dutch FA) know that Viv is really close to returning to play and maybe she can make the squad here on Sunday as well for Arsenal, which would be a big thing for for us as well,” he said.

“That still makes her a doubt if she could play competitive games for Netherlands, of course, because we still don’t know how she would react.

“But they have very much taken her under that assumption and with the dialogue that they understand that could be the case, but they are happy to just be providing her with an optimal training experience and that’s a win-win also for Arsenal, because that means that she will come back before the [Manchester] City game in a better condition than I think would have been possible at Arsenal with only three players at home.”

Miedema’s possible return is big boost for Arsenal, who have had a mixed start to the season.

The Gunners have taken four points from their opening three WSL games and trail leaders City by three.

They got off the mark last week with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa as summer signing Alessia Russo scored an injury-time winner - and Eidevall is excited to see her play with Miedema.

Alessia Russo fired Arsenal to a dramatic win over Aston Villa last week
Arsenal FC via Getty Images

“I can see that working in different combinations and that’s very exciting,” he said.

“We could see Alessia starting the game against Aston Villa as a 9, but we switched her to a 10 when Stina [Blackstenius] was coming in as a 9 and we worked on that partnership.

“What does that tells us? Miedema can play both as a 9 and as a 10. I think Alessia can do the same, she can also work as a 9 and a 10, so when we see them play together, when they do, what will bring their best qualities out of each other? We will have to see.

“That’s the exciting thing in football, I have an idea in my head. But that doesn’t count for much until it transpires out to the pitch.

“And I’m very excited to see them working together on the pitch, but we haven’t had much time to do that so far.”

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