Emma Hayes’ Chelsea Women come up against Manchester United this evening with a place in the final of the Continental Tyres League Cup at stake and here we preview the semi-final…
WHEN AND WHERE?
The Blues make the trip north for this evening’s semi-final. The match kicks off at 7.30pm at Leigh Sports Village, the home of Manchester United Women.
HOW TO FOLLOW AND WATCH LIVE
Fans who are unable to make the long journey to support the Blues can keep up to date with the game via our social media channels. There will be live commentary on our Twitter page, regular updates on Facebook and Instagram, plus footage of the matchday on our Instagram Story. All you need to do is search ‘ChelseaFCW' on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date.
The game will also be shown live on The FA Player, a free streaming platform, exclusively dedicated for women’s football in England.
THE FORM
The Blues are in contention for all three domestic trophies. We are third in the Women’s Super League with a game in hand and are currently the only team in the league who are undefeated.
Chelsea secured a place in the last-16 of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday against Championship team Charlton Athletic thanks to two goals apiece from Drew Spence and Emily Murphy.
Spence got us underway just before the interval and 16-year-old Murphy extended our lead minutes into the second half. Another Blues youngster, Charlotte Fleming, was fouled in the box and Spence stepped up to convert her penalty and Murphy capped off the scoring with five minutes left to play.
The Blues defeated Championship table toppers Aston Villa 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the Continental Tyres League Cup to reach the last four of this competition. Second-half goals from Magdalena Eriksson, Ji So-Yun and Murphy guaranteed our place.
Manchester United are in their first season in the top flight following promotion as Championship winners. Casey Stoney’s Red Devils are having an impressive term and currently occupy fourth place in the league with two games in hand.
United were last in action on Saturday against their Manchester neighbours City and were eliminated from the Women’s FA Cup at the fourth-round stage after a narrow 3-2 defeat.
City had gone ahead in the first half, courtesy of Ellen White, and the striker completed her brace in the second period. However, United staged a late comeback with Lauren James (Reece James's sister) scoring and City’s Lauren Hemp inadvertently turning the ball into her own net. However, a Jill Scott strike ensured it was City who just edged that Manchester derby.
Our opponents progressed to the semi-final stage of the Continental Tyres League Cup for the second successive season with a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Goals from Abbie McManus and Jane Ross cancelled out a Brighton penalty.
CHELSEA V MANCHESTER UNITED HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Tonight will be the second time that the two teams have met competitively in women’s football. The Blues hosted Manchester United in front of a sold-out Kingsmeadow mid-November in an engrossing WSL encounter and we ran out 1-0 victors courtesy of Maren Mjelde’s second-half spot kick.
WOMEN’S FA CUP DRAW
Chelsea will play Liverpool at Kingsmeadow in the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday 16 February, with full details to follow.
Click here to view the full draw.
THE BLUES’ NEXT HOME GAME
We return to Kingsmeadow on Sunday for the visit of West Ham United. The WSL fixture kicks off at 2pm and tickets are available to purchase priced at £1 for juniors (under-20) and seniors (under-65) and £9 for adults.