For the first time, Stamford Bridge will host its women's team in the FA Cup. The club prepares to host all 13 of its WSL home games at the stadium next season. They face off against the newly crowned WSL champions, Manchester City, who usurped the trophy from Chelsea, who have had a WSL season to forget after six consecutive titles. City aim to reach their first FA Cup final since 2022, and Chelsea hope to reach their second consecutive FA Cup final under manager Sonia Bompastor.
The last time these two met in a WSL fixture,, Chelsea were demolished 5-1 at the Joie Stadium, which was their heaviest ever defeat, ending their 19-match unbeaten away league run, and the final nail in the coffin for Chelsea's title-retention hope, with Kerolin scoring her first city hat trick becoming the first player in WSL history to score three goals against the reigning champions in a single match.
But in the League Cup semi-finals, mere weeks before Chelsea won 1-0 after Wieke Kaptein scored the only goal, which ended Man City's 16-match unbeaten run in all competitions, the last time these two faced off at Stamford Bridge was the opening game of the season, which saw a goal from Aggie Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano and helped Sonia Bompastor become the fastest manager to reach 20 wins in the WSL.
So this season, we've seen the momentum swing in both directions. To get to this stage in the competition, Chelsea had a very hard journey, going to extra time against Manchester United and winning 2-1, then facing Spurs and sealing the win late on in the 86th minute from a goal by Veerle Buurman. City, on the other hand, had Birmingham City, a team which they expected to beat by a significant margin, but they won only by a goal to nil thanks to an early strike from Bunny Shaw.
Despite not starting against Leicester City last week, Hannah Hampton is available and confirmed her absence was part of a planned rotation. Naomi Girma is ruled out after suffering a calf setback. Sam Kerr is first and in goalscoring form, with 64 league goals; she is Chelsea Women's all-time leading WSL goalscorer, overtaking Fran Kirby, who has 63.
Sonia Bompastor on Sam Kerr: “Having Sam available, fit to feature and being able to make a big impact for us is crucial because we know her experience, we know all the quality she can bring and the impact she can bring to the team.”
City will be without Vivianne Miedema due to continuing absence due to personal reasons after revealing setbacks in her mother's cancer treatments. During the watch party for Arsenal v Brighton, which ended 1-1, meaning City won the league, their shirt was held up in display when they were confirmed as the champions. City remain in contention for both the WSL and FA Cup double, something they did only once back in 2016/17.
Chelsea secured Champions League football after a 3-1 victory over Leicester City, while City grasped a win thanks to a stoppage-time winner by Rebecca Knaak and Liverpool.
Andree Jeglertz, City manager, said: “[Chelsea] are a great team and definitely look different from when we played them in February. They’ve found stability in their performance and have great players in all positions.
“We’re looking forward to this challenge, and the last time we played at their home, we lost, so we want to make a better performance.”
When they last faced each other, Chelsea had significant absences due to injuries and was stretched in defence.
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