Leah Williamson suffers worrying injury 3 months ahead of World Cup

England captain Leah Williamson suffered a worrying injury just over 10 minutes into the crunch WSL clash between Arsenal and Manchester United on Wednesday night.

The 26-year-old, deputising in midfield for the Gunners, went down in an innocuous challenge for the ball but appeared to catch her studs in the turf and potentially jar her knee.

Her reaction upon hitting the floor immediately suggested it could be serious, waving for medical attention straightaway and pounding the turf in front of her in frustration.

The major concern is that it mirrored the ACL injury suffered by Arsenal teammate Vivianne Miedema in December, which would obviously also have massive implication for England’s World Cup hopes – the tournament is due to kick off in just three months.

Williamson resisted the stretcher that was brought on the pitch but needed help to leave the field of play and was hugged by manager Jonas Eidevall as she left. Kim Little, whose season-ending injury was confirmed earlier this week, then helped her stricken teammate down the tunnel.

Arsenal went into the game against United already without Beth Mead, Miedema and Little, as well as Caitlin Foord due to injury. Katie McCabe was also missing through suspension. All five would likely have started the contest, leaving the Gunners even more up against it.

For the Gunners, the possibility of Williamson joining that injury list for the rest of the season or longer is a massive blow. They travel to Germany in the coming days for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Wolfsburg and are far from guaranteed a place in the WSL top three to return to the competition next season.