A year later than planned, the pandemic-delayed Women's European Championship takes place in England this month, at a time when the women's game is enjoying a popularity surge.
Barcelona Femeni packed out Camp Nou twice for Champions League games in the season just ended, in what was the most eye-catching sign of years of steady growth.
Many players who a decade ago would have needed part-time work to supplement their playing wages are now enjoying the trappings of being full-time professionals.
It means these players are physically sharper, more tactically astute, and skill levels are soaring skywards, making Euro 2022 an unmissable prospect.
Here, Stats Perform looks at seven players who could emerge as dominant stars of the tournament.
Alexia Putellas, Spain and Barcelona
Generally considered to be the world's best player, Putellas became the first Spain women's international to reach 100 caps on Friday when she played and scored in a 1-1 friendly draw against Italy. She runs the show for Barcelona, captaining the team, and delivered a flood of goals from midfield. She hit 34 goals across all competitions last season, including a four-minute hat-trick against Valencia, and in the Champions League she was named player of the season, despite her team's 3-1 defeat to Lyon in the final.
Irene Paredes, Spain and Barcelona
If Putellas pulls the strings in the opposition half, it will likely fall to Paredes to organise at the other end of the field, as favourites Spain look to keep it tight at the back. The Barcelona centre-back is set to captain Spain, who are seeking their first European Championship title. After joining last year from Paris Saint-Germain, Paredes helped Barcelona to a polished Primera Division campaign of 30 wins from 30 games, with only 11 goals conceded. Almost 11 years since making her debut in Euro 2013 qualifying, Spain will look for Paredes to lead by example.
Pernille Harder, Denmark and Chelsea
Harder is a serial winner at club level, having won four consecutive league and cup doubles with Wolfsburg before joining Chelsea for a reported world-record fee in September 2020 and adding back-to-back WSL and FA Cup doubles. The classy forward will create chances for others but is also a deadly finisher, scoring 68 goals in 134 internationals. Runners-up last time, Denmark will look to Harder to ensure they are in the mix again this month.
Ada Hegerberg, Norway and Lyon
Hegerberg is the returning Norway heroine, coming back into the fold in March after almost five years in self-imposed exile, having previously been upset by the national federation's treatment of the women's game. A true superstar of the game, the Lyon striker and former Ballon d'Or Feminin winner suffered an ACL injury in early 2020 that kept her sidelined for 20 months, but she is emphatically back now, as she proved when scoring in the Champions League final win over Barcelona – a 59th European club competition goal in her 60th such game.
Beth Mead, England and Arsenal
Once a teenage revelation at Sunderland, now at Arsenal, Mead had to wait until just before her 23rd birthday before earning a first England cap. In the four years since that debut, she has floated in and out of the team, with the Lionesses having serious riches with their attacking options. This could be the Whitby-born player's tournament, with Sarina Wiegman expected to include her in an attacking three behind a main striker. Mead has hit three hat-tricks for England in the last nine months and is also a highly creative player from the flanks. She is one of a handful of England attackers who could light up the tournament.
Vivianne Miedema, Netherlands and Arsenal
Mead's club-mate has enjoyed a stunning five-year spell in the English top flight, hitting a record 74 Women's Super League goals in 89 games. In May, the former Bayern Munich player agreed a new deal with the Gunners, and now she will spearhead the Netherlands' European title defence. Described by team-mate Jill Roord as "an absolute killer", Miedema helped the Netherlands reach the 2019 World Cup final and scored a record 10 goals at the Tokyo Olympics, despite the Dutch campaign ending with a quarter-final penalty shoot-out loss to the United States. Miedema surprisingly missed from the spot, so she is not perfect, but defences will fear her presence over the coming weeks.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto, France and Paris Saint-Germain
The PSG and France men's teams have Kylian Mbappe, and the women have Marie-Antoinette Katoto, a record-breaking superstar in her own right. Both are 23 years old, both have over 100 goals for PSG, and both could lead their country to trophy glory this year. Katoto became PSG's record scorer in the women's game last season, and last week agreed a new contract tying her to the capital club until 2025. There lies another Mbappe parallel, with PSG determined to keep the striker out of the clutches of rival clubs, knowing she is the sort of talent that could make an explosive impact on Euro 2022.
No love lost for Conte ahead of 'emotional' Juventus reunion
Antonio Conte is relishing Napoli's upcoming clash that will see him return to Juventus, a club he both played for and managed.
Conte has started his career in Naples in fine form, leading Napoli to three wins from their first four league games and to second in the Serie A standings.
But this weekend sees him return to the club he made 419 appearances for as a player, winning 12 titles, which included the Champions League in 1995-96.
Having started his managerial journey at Arezzo in 2006, the Italian returned to Juventus in 2011, replacing Luigi Delneri as their new head coach.
Conte led Juventus to three consecutive Scudetto titles, winning 90 of his 133 games in charge (D30 L13) before becoming the Italy national team head coach.
The last time the 55-year-old travelled to Turin as the opposing team's manager was in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with his Inter side losing 3-2 having already won the title.
"My past is clear, 13 years at Juve as a player, I was captain for several years, winning practically everything," Conte said.
"I had the opportunity to coach for three years, starting a series of nine Scudetti.
"I am part of Juve's history because of what I've done and given them. It's easier to stay at one club your entire career.
"But as a coach it's impossible to decide your own career. I coached Juve for three years, my career took me to different places.
"Today I have the true pleasure of coaching a team like Napoli. For me, being someone from the south, it is a proud and satisfying feeling.
"There will be lots of emotions returning to that stadium, because last time I returned during COVID."
Conte comes up against a man he knows well in Juventus head coach Thiago Motta, having managed him during his time with the Italian national team.
Motta has collected eight points from his four games in charge of his new club after leading Bologna to Champions League qualification last term.
The 42-year-old marked his first game as a head coach in the Champions League with a comfortable 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Conte wished Motta well for the season, but not at the expense of his Napoli side.
"Thiago Motta takes on a heavy legacy... It's not a trivial thing to coach there, there is a demand for victory, like at Milan or Inter," Conte said.
"He was a player of mine with the national team at the European Championships. He makes me smile, but it also saddens me a bit because I'm getting old.
"He did very well in Bologna and so I wish him the best from a human point of view, but not in the games against us."
The Numbers Game: Will fortune favour the brave as title rivals meet?
Having won an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title last season, Manchester City have wasted no time in stealing a march on their rivals in 2024-25.
As the only team to register a perfect four wins from four matches, City already boast a two-point lead over their closest challengers, the identity of whom also comes as no surprise.
Such has been City's brilliance, that amassing 173 points across the last two seasons has not been enough for Arsenal to end their long wait for a Premier League crown.
However, last week's North London Derby victory over Tottenham saw them display all the hallmarks of potential champions, keeping their fierce rivals at arm's length in a composed performance as Gabriel Magalhaes' header made the difference.
But can the Gunners go one step further and do what they could not last season – win at the Etihad Stadium?
Ahead of the biggest game of the season to date, we dive into the Opta data to bring you the best facts and figures surrounding both teams.
What's expected?
Given City's fearsome record at home to Arsenal, it comes as no surprise to see the Opta supercomputer make them favourites.
City are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League home games against the Gunners, winning seven and drawing two since a 2-0 defeat back in January 2015.
Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, City were victorious in 58.6%, with Arsenal only taking the spoils in 19.8% of scenarios.
A repeat of March's draw between the teams, which was not enough for Arsenal to get over the line in the title race, is assigned a 21.6% likelihood.
Whatever happens, something has to give on Sunday. City have won each of their last 13 Premier League matches, and there have only ever been six cases of a team winning 14 or more in a row.
City – and current boss Pep Guardiola – are responsible for half of those instances, winning 18 straight in 2017, 15 in a row in 2019 and the same amount in 2021.
Arsenal, though, have not trailed at any stage in their last 11 away Premier League matches. They could become the first team in the competition's history to go 12 straight road games without falling behind, with Aston Villa also enjoying an 11-game run back in 1998.
Haaland the centurion?
Erling Haaland was frustrated as City fired a blank in their midweek Champions League opener versus Inter, going close twice in the first half but failing to bring up his 100th goal for the club.
The Norwegian reached 99 goals in City blue with a brace in last weekend's comeback win over Brentford, and he has now scored a scarcely believable nine goals in four Premier League games this season.
Eight of those have come in his last three league outings – hat-tricks versus Ipswich Town and West Ham, and a double against Brentford.
In Premier League history, only Luis Suarez has ever scored multiple goals in four straight appearances, netting one hat-trick and three braces in a tremendous run for Liverpool in December 2013.
Another goal here would also see Haaland smash the record for the fewest games taken to reach double figures for Premier League goals at the start of a season, with Mick Quinn in 1992-93 and Haaland himself in 2022-23 previously doing so in six outings.
Haaland's overall tally of 72 Premier League goals – which have come in just 70 appearances – places him third in City's all-time goalscoring charts in the competition, behind only Sergio Aguero (184) and Raheem Sterling (91) – who could line up for Arsenal on Sunday after arriving on loan from Chelsea.
Should Haaland find the net on Sunday, which could be his 105th appearance for City overall, he would match the number of games Cristiano Ronaldo required to hit a ton of goals for Real Madrid.
For further context, Lionel Messi needed 188 to bring up a century for Barcelona, Robert Lewandowski required 136 at Bayern Munich and City legend Aguero took 158 matches.
With the pretenders to City's throne in town, what better time for Haaland to bring up yet another goalscoring landmark?
Fortune favours the brave?
Arsenal did come out on top in their duels with City last season, taking four points via a 1-0 home win and their hard-fought goalless draw at the Etihad.
That is double the number they managed in their previous 15 league meetings with the Citizens, recording two draws and 13 defeats.
Both Guardiola and Mikel Arteta were cautious in their Easter-Day draw, with many onlookers berating the sight of eight (yes, eight) recognised centre-backs starting in a game that produced a mere 1.68 expected goals (xG) in total.
Arsenal managed two clean sheets against Guardiola's men last term, having conceded in 16 straight against them beforehand, shipping 40 goals in total in that run.
Arsenal then followed that draw by winning eight of their last nine games of the season, only slipping up in a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa, but it was not enough. For a team trying to dethrone City, it often feels as though nothing is.
If the Gunners are to make it third time lucky in their pursuit of title glory this term, they may need to take both of their chances to beat City.
While Arteta figured out a way to contain City in 2023-24, his team must show more attacking enterprise on Sunday than they did on their last trip to the Etihad, when their six shots totalled just 0.66 xG. That was their fewest attempts in a single Premier League fixture since November 2021, when they had five in a 4-0 loss at Liverpool.
Arsenal also managed just 15 touches in City's box to their opponents' 40, their fewest in any Premier League match last season, while only at Bournemouth (28 in a ruthless 4-0 win) did they play fewer passes into the final third last term (36).
The Gunners have been steady, rather than spectacular, through their opening four matches of the season, ranking joint-14th in the Premier League for shots (45) and 14th for xG (4.99) despite having the fourth-most touches in opposition areas (140).
Loathe as he may be to do so, Arteta might need to take the handbrake off on Sunday.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City – Jeremy Doku
Doku was limited to the role of substitute as City were kept at bay by Inter on Wednesday, but it would be no surprise to see Guardiola inject his electric pace from the off here.
The Belgium international leads all players in the Premier League this season for total progress upfield during carries (747.81 metres) and ranks second for progressive carries (64), behind only Brighton's Jan Paul van Hecke (66). In fact, he is the only non-centre-back to make the top seven for that particular metric.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka has been involved in five of Arsenal's six Premier League goals so far this season (one goal, four assists), assisting a goal in all four games so far.
In Premier League history, only Gunners great Thierry Henry (2004-05) has provided an assist in each of a team's first five matches in a season.
Women's Champions League roundup: Real Madrid snatch first leg lead
A late goal from Melanie Leupolz gave Real Madrid a 2-1 first-leg aggregate advantage over Sporting CP in their Champions League qualifier.
The away side took the lead after just 11 minutes as Athenea del Castillo capitalised on a poor mistake from Sporting keeper Hannah Seabert and slotted the ball into an empty net.
Despite Madrid's dominance, they were pegged back on the stroke of half-time after a foul by keeper Misa Rodriguez in the box, with Andreia Bravo making no mistake from the spot.
Madrid continued to dominate in the second half, with Alba Redondo going close, but it looked as if Sporting would hang for a draw to take to Madrid next week.
But that was before Leupolz headed the ball into the net in injury-time after Olga Carmona's cross could only be parried out.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray squandered a two-goal advantage to draw their home-leg encounter with Slavia Prague.
A second-half brace from Andrea Staskova looked to have given the Turkish side a healthy lead to take to the Czech Republic, but Slavia Prague responded late on, with Benan Altintas scoring an own goal 15 minutes from time, before Kristina Kosikova's 98th minute equaliser.
St Polten, meanwhile, hold a healthy first leg lead after defeating Musa 3-0 at home.
The first half produced no goals, but the Austrian side showed their class in the second half, with Kamila Dubcova, Melike Pekel and Izabela Krizaj all getting on the scoresheet.
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