Women's Super League champions Chelsea Women face four-time FA Cup winners Manchester City Women at Wembley on Sunday, when there could be a new record crowd for this event.
In 2018, 45,423 fans attended Wembley to watch Chelsea beat Arsenal in the Women's FA Cup final, but that record is set to be broken this Sunday, when the men's final will be played on the same weekend at Wembley as the women's final for the first time.
Match preview
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Gareth Taylor's side enter this match in exquisite form, having won their last 13 back-to-back games in all competitions, and they finished their WSL campaign on a positive note.
Last weekend, goals from Lauren Hemp, Khadija Shaw, Ellen White and Alex Greenwood sealed a 4-0 win away at Reading on the final day of the league campaign, and that secured third spot and the final Champions League place.
After losing ground on the top three early on in the season, Man City had been chasing third place all year, so finishing in third after an injury-hit campaign filled Taylor's team with satisfaction.
The Citizens can also take confidence heading into this match having already defeated Chelsea in a final this year, lifting the League Cup at the beginning of March, after a 3-1 win against Emma Hayes's side.
Taylor's team have made their run to this final relatively comfortable, scoring 20 goals in their four matches to get to Wembley, most recently defeating West Ham United 4-1 in the semi-final.
Man City have a perfect record in FA Cup finals, having won all three that they have been involved in, and those triumphs have come within the last five seasons, during which time this trophy has alternated between City and Chelsea.
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The Blues retained the WSL title last weekend, after finally catching near season-long leaders Arsenal in the penultimate gameweek of the campaign, before sealing their league triumph with a 4-2 win against Man United on Sunday.
Goals from Erin Cuthbert, Guro Reiten and a brace from Samantha Kerr ensured that Chelsea earned all three points on the final day, extending their winning run to 11 matches.
Hayes's side have already lifted the FA Cup trophy during this campaign, beating Arsenal 3-0 in December, when last year's final was played due to a six-month delay as a result of coronavirus.
Chelsea are aiming to win the double this year after lifting the WSL trophy, while they are building on the treble that they secured in the 2020-21 campaign, after their FA Cup triumph in December added to the league title and League Cup triumph.
This will be the fifth meeting between these two teams this season, with Chelsea getting the better of Man City on both occasions in the WSL, after already defeating Taylor's team in the FA Cup semi-final in October on route to their final victory five months ago.
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Team News
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Fran Kirby is expected to remain sidelined for personal health reasons, while Ji So-Yun, Drew Spence and Jonna Andersson will be participating in their final game for Chelsea before departing the club this summer.
Hayes will set her side up in their usual 3-4-3 formation, with Jessica Carter, Millie Bright and Magdalena Eriksson certain to make up the defensive three, but Ji could replace Sophie Ingle in the starting 11.
The front three is likely to include Pernille Harder, Kerr and Jessie Fleming, with Niamh Charles and Reiten providing extra attacking support from their wing-back roles.
Man City will continue without captain Steph Houghton due to injury, meaning that Alanna Kennedy will remain alongside Greenwood in the heart of defence, with Lucy Bronze and Demi Stokes making up the rest of the back four.
Midfielder Vicky Losada made her first appearance from the bench last weekend, after being absent since February, and she will be named among the substitutes again.
Caroline Weir, Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh are sure to make up the midfield three, while White is likely to return to the starting 11 in place of Shaw up top.
Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Roebuck; Stokes, Greenwood, Kennedy, Bronze; Weir, Stanway, Walsh; Hemp, White, Kelly
Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:
Berger; Eriksson, Bright, Carter; Reiten, Ji, Cuthbert, Charles; Fleming, Kerr, Harder
We say: Manchester City Women 2-3 Chelsea Women
(A.E.T)
With the biggest-ever crowd expected at a Women's FA Cup final, the game is likely to live up to its expectation of being an entertaining affair, which is why Wembley should expect lots of goals.
Chelsea will be desperate for revenge after Man City lifted the League Cup in front of them two months ago, and that could give them the edge in extra time this Sunday.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chelsea Women win with a probability of 38.71%. A win for Manchester City Women had a probability of 36.43% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chelsea Women win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.22%) and 2-0 (6.03%). The likeliest Manchester City Women win was 1-2 (8.23%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.63%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Chelsea Women would win this match.
Top tip
Sammy Wynne
