Its FA Cup final day on Saturday as two London rivals go at it to decide who is the best team in London and most importantly, who gets to take the trophy home. Chelsea Ladies face Arsenal in what will be an epic and intense finale to cap a thrilling tournament.
Chelsea come into this match on the back of disappointment as their hopes of a treble were dashed when they lost their Champions League tie with Wolfsburg last weekend. Coupled with that, Manchester City were able to win their game in hand and are now leaders of the WSL 1 table on goal difference. Chelsea will want to wrap up their first trophy of the season to hopefully give them that confidence boost for the final few league games.
Arsenal have already tasted silverware this season as they won the Continental Cup earlier in the year against Man City. However, Arsenal also come into the game disappointed having lost their most recent match 3-0 away to Birmingham City Ladies which also brought to an end their impressive 14 game unbeaten streak. Arsenal will look to bounce straight back to maintain the positive momentum that they have generated under manager Joe Montemurro.
Chelsea are yet to concede a single goal on their run to the final and have only lost once domestically this season. The Blues beat London Bees 10-0 in the fourth round, then racked up another big score against WSL 2 leaders Doncaster Belles as they thrashed them 6-0. Liverpool awaited in the quarter finals but they were dispatched comfortably as the Blues ran out 3-0 winners. In the semi-finals, Chelsea faced the hard task of facing their title rivals Manchester City but two Fran Kirby goals meant that the Blues were able to book their place at Wembley.
Arsenal beat Yeovil town 3-0 in the fourth round before going on to face Millwall Lionesses who gave them a tough game but ultimately Arsenal managed to grab a tight 1-0 victory. In the quarters, Arsenal beat Charlton 5-0 and finally in the last round the Gunners faced Everton away from home but managed to get through to the final with a 2-1 victory.
Arsenal and Chelsea actually played each other in the final of the 2016 FA Cup Final with Arsenal winning that 1-0 and confirming Arsenal’s 14th FA Cup as they cemented their status as the most successful team in FA Cup history. Katie Chapman, Emma Hayes and Gilly Flaherty were at Arsenal for a lot of their successes but will hoping to take that experience and use it against them to make sure that the FA Cup is blue.
