Will it be Chelsea or Manchester City who are crowned Women’s FA Cup winners when the two sides face each other at Wembley Stadium on Sunday?
Holders and three-time winners Chelsea are going for the double, having lifted the Women’s Super League title last Sunday.
Manchester City are also aiming for their fourth FA Cup triumph and second piece of silverware this year after their thrilling 3-1 Continental League Cup final victory over Chelsea in March.
The past five finals have been won by Chelsea or City, but it will be the first time the teams have met in the showpiece event, which will be shown live on BBC One.
For the first time, the men’s and women’s finals will be played across the same weekend, with Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea taking on Liverpool the day before
New crowd record?
The current record for a Women’s FA Cup final stands at 45,423, which was set when Chelsea beat Arsenal at Wembley in 2018.
A record attendance looks on the cards, with the FA announcing on 11 May that more than 50,000 tickets had already been sold.
The FA had been optimistic of breaking that record in December for the final delayed from the previous season, but after issuing more than 45,000 tickets for the match the attendance on the day at Wembley was 40,942.
Double-double for dominant Chelsea?
Chelsea are aiming to lift the trophy for a second consecutive season, after they beat Arsenal in the final for last year’s competition.
Victory five months ago handed the Blues their first domestic treble, joining the WSL title and League Cup they had won in 2020-21 to wrap up a dominant campaign.
Should Emma Hayes’s side triumph this season, they will have won five of the past six domestic trophies on offer.
In this league campaign they beat City 1-0 at home in February and 4-0 away last November, although that latter match took place when Gareth Taylor’s team was plagued with injuries.
Chelsea have been sensational in the WSL this campaign, winning 18 of their 22 fixtures, including their past nine in the top flight.
In-form City aiming for number four
Since losing 1-0 to Chelsea in February, City have won 13 straight games in all competitions – a run that includes March’s League Cup final win over Sunday’s opponents.
In the league they claimed the final Champions League spot, finishing third, above Manchester United, despite a torrid start to the season.
Last November, after a 4-0 defeat by Chelsea, City sat in ninth place, a distant 12 points off the top.
It has been a remarkable turnaround and now the the three-time-FA-Cup-winners can move one clear of opponents Chelsea in the record books if they secure a fourth title.
The North West outfit have won three of the past five FA Cups and have never lost an FA Cup final.
Unstoppable in attack and immoveable in defence
Chelsea’s route to Wembley saw them edge past Aston Villa and thrash Birmingham City and Leicester City, before a feisty last-four encounter with Arsenal was settled thanks to goals by Guro Reiten and Ji So-yun.
Despite facing WSL opposition at every stage of this year’s tournament, they have conceded only one goal and scored 17 across their four ties.
Gareth Taylor’s City team have also been dominant in the cup this season. They beat third-tier Nottingham Forest 8-0, embarrassed rivals Manchester United 4-1 and defeated Everton 4-0 in their first three rounds.
The 4-1 semi-final win over West Ham United was emotional for City, with forward Chloe Kelly scoring her first goal since returning from a serious knee injury.
City last lifted the FA Cup in November 2020 thanks to late extra-time goals from Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie against Everton in a behind-closed-doors tie.
Source: BBC