West Ham United Women welcome Manchester City Women to the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Saturday, when the two sides will be playing it out for a place in the FA Cup final.
Gareth Taylor's side are bidding to win their fourth FA Cup but they did fall at the semi-final stage earlier this season for last year's competition, which was extended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Match preview
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The Hammers defeated Reading, Sheffield United and Ipswich Town on their route to the semi-final, but third-tiered side Ipswich did give West Ham a scare in the quarter-final, when Olli Harder's side went through by a small margin.
Since that quarter-final triumph, West Ham have recorded back-to-back defeats in the WSL, with their most recent loss coming against Saturday's visitors, who earned a 2-0 win in London before the international break.
Man City dominated that encounter, limiting Harder's team to zero shots on target, while Georgia Stanway and Khadija Shaw found the back of the net for the Citizens.
West Ham will know that they must improve on that performance and look to create more problems for City's defence, which they know they can do having won the first encounter of the season at the Academy Stadium thanks to goals from Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Yui Hasegawa.
Despite beating Man City away from home and losing on their own patch earlier this month, West Ham do have a better scoring record on home soil, which they will hope to demonstrate on Saturday.
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Taylor's team could not enter this match in much better form, having won their last eight consecutive games in all competitions, which has seen them move to within three points of third-placed Manchester United with a game in hand.
Securing third place in the WSL will be a high priority for Man City, but after winning their first trophy of the season at the beginning of March, when they lifted the League Cup after beating Chelsea, City will be keen to make it a domestic double.
Man City have got past Nottingham Forest, Man United and Everton on their way to this semi-final, and they will be confident about reaching the final given their good form.
Not only are Man City on an eight-game winning run, they have kept five consecutive clean sheets, suggesting that they will be able to deal with any attacking threat that the Hammers try to offer this weekend.
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Team News
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With this encounter being the first match back after the international break, many of the West Ham players will have been rested, and Harder could name the same 11 as last time, but having been dominated by Man City, some changes for the hosts can be expected.
Katerina Svitkova is likely to return to the lineup, as well as Abbey-Leigh Stringer, who was replaced by Lucy Parker in midfield last time out.
Captain Steph Houghton remains sidelined due to injury for Man City, but a back four including Demi Stokes, Alex Greenwood, Alanna Kennedy and Lucy Bronze are certain to continue.
Winger Chloe Kelly made her first appearance of the season against West Ham before the international break, having recovered from a long-term injury, and she may start on Saturday, in a front three alongside Lauren Hemp and Ellen White.
Stanway offers further attacking support from midfield, which will also include Keira Walsh and Caroline Weir, who is a threat from long shots outside the 18-yard box.
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Arnold; Fisk, Flaherty, Cissoko; Longhurst, Hasegawa, Brynjarsdottir, Stringer, Svitkova; Leon, Yallop
Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Roebuck; Stokes, Kennedy, Greenwood, Bronze; Weir, Stanway, Walsh; Kelly, White, Hemp
We say: West Ham United Women 1-3 Manchester City Women
West Ham are expected to have learnt from their last encounter with Man City, and should have worked on a way to create more problems for their visitors, which could result in the Hammers getting on the scoresheet.
However, Man City are seemingly in formidable form and that should help them secure their place in the FA Cup final on Saturday, with the quality that they possess throughout their side.
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 Manchester City Women win with a probability of 79.24%. A draw had a probability of 13.2% and a win for West Ham United Women had a probability of 7.53%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester City Women win was 0-2 with a probability of 11.39%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (10.48%) and 1-2 (8.55%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.19%), while for a West Ham United Women win it was 2-1 (2.32%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 5.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Manchester City Women would win this match.
