The Women’s FA Cup will be on the line when Chelsea Women lock horns with Manchester United Women‘s in Sunday’s showdown at Wembley.
The Blues are looking to complete a domestic treble, while the Red Devils are hoping to retain the trophy they won last season.
Match preview
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Chelsea are on the brink of achieving a treble in Sonia Bompastor‘s first season in charge, having already clinched the Women’s Super League title and the Women’s League title this season.
In fact, the Blues sealed their sixth consecutive WSL crown with a narrow 1-0 victory in last month’s away clash against Man United.
They went on to repeat that scoreline in their final two league matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool to complete an unbeaten WSL season, becoming the first club to achieve the feat on two separate occasions after previously enjoying an invincible season in 2017-18.
After finishing their league campaign with 19 wins and three draws, Chelsea will now be focusing on lifting their sixth Women’s FA Cup after successfully negotiating their way to the final with home wins over Charlton Athletic, Everton, Crystal Palace and Liverpool.
Chelsea beat Man United in the final to win their fifth FA Cup in May 2023, with a Sam Kerr strike proving enough to seal a 1-0 victory on that occasion.
The Blues will take immense confidence from the fact that they have won 11 of their previous 12 competitive games against Man United (L1), keeping clean sheets in five of their last six meetings.
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Man United may have finished 16 points behind Chelsea in the WSL, but they would have been satisfied with their third-place finish, as they secured Women’s Champions League qualification for the second time in three seasons.
With that said, they will be frustrated that they failed to win any of their final four league matches (D2, L2), including a narrow 4-3 defeat in their entertaining clash with second-placed Arsenal on the final day of the campaign.
As a result of their underwhelming form, the Red Devils have not recorded a victory since they recorded a 2-0 win in last month’s Women’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, thanks to goals from Celin Bizet and Grace Clinton.
Marc Skinner‘s side are now looking forward to making their third consecutive appearance in the Women’s FA Cup final, as they return to Wembley for the first time since clinching their first major trophy in last season’s final.
On that occasion, Lucia Garcia netted a brace alongside goals from Ella Toone and Rachel Williams to fire the Red Devils to a memorable 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, although they will be aware that they will face a much tougher test this time around against a club that have won this competition in three of the past four seasons.
Man United have won just one of their 15 competitive games with Chelsea (D1, L13), although that solitary victory did take place in the only previous FA Cup meeting between the two sides in April 2024, when they recorded a 2-1 semi-final win on their journey to Wembley glory.
Team News
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Chelsea are unable to call upon the services of Kerr, Sophie Ingle, Femke Liefting, Zecira Musovic and Kadeisha Buchanan.
Bompastor has confirmed that Lauren James remains sidelined with a hamstring injury that has kept her out of the last seven matches.
In positive news, Mayra Ramirez is in contention to play a role in the final after missing the last two games with a knee problem.
As for the visitors, Jayde Riviere has failed to recover from the ankle injury she picked up in the Manchester derby earlier this month.
Defender Aoife Mannion will return to the matchday squad after missing the recent defeat to Arsenal through suspension.
Experienced striker Rachel Williams is hoping to prove her fitness in time for the final, having sat out the last three matches due to injury.
Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Girma, Charles; Cuthbert, Walsh; Rytting Kaneryd, Nusken, Baltimore; Beever-Jones
Manchester United Women possible starting lineup:
Tullis-Joyce; Le Tissier, Janssen, Turner, George; Miyazawa, Clinton; Bizet, Toone, Galton; Terland
We say: Chelsea Women 2-1 Manchester United Women
Chelsea won by a 1-0 scoreline in both of their league meetings with Man United this season, and with that in mind, we think the two sides will produce another close-fought contest on Sunday, especially as the prize of the FA Cup is at stake.
However, the Blues have made a habit of getting the better of the Red Devils, and having already won two trophies this season, we think they will use those experiences to lift the FA cup at Wembley.
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