The three English clubs competing in European competition this season – Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United – received a bye to the quarter-finals, thus avoiding the League Cup group stage.

The draw paired us with Group B winners Liverpool, who had defeated WSL Championship sides Durham, Sheffield United and Sunderland. The game would take place away from home, at the BrewDog Stadium in St Helens, on 21 December.

A month earlier, Sonia Bompastor’s Blues had toiled to a 1-1 draw away to the Reds, with Alyssa Thompson’s early strike cancelled out by Beata Olsson before the break. We had no such issues on Merseyside this time around, however, producing a devastating display of attacking football to rout Liverpool 9-1.

A brace scored by Sam Kerr inside 17 minutes stifled the opposition immediately, and further goals from Wieke Kaptein and Aggie Beever-Jones before half-time confirmed our supremacy.

We did not let up after the interval. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd chipped in with a superb curling finish from just inside the box, and promptly netted twice more to complete her hat-trick.

Sjoeke Nusken and Millie Bright both got in on the act to cap off a sensational performance from the Blues to bring the curtain down on 2025 in the best possible fashion.

‘It was a complete performance and a great result,’ said Bompastor.

‘I’m pleased because the most important thing coming into this game was to have some fresh legs, so we rotated the squad, and the girls who played today showed they are really good players, and they had a great game.

‘We were able to score with different players, and Jojo had a hat-trick. It’s good for her confidence, and that’s the best thing that can happen for attacking players. I’m pleased for her, and for the team. There were a lot of positives from this game.’

The Blues carried that positive momentum into the new year, defeating West Ham and Crystal Palace 5-0 at Kingsmeadow in the WSL and FA Cup respectively. Next up was our League Cup semi-final tie. We would play Manchester City in a repeat of the 2022 and 2025 finals.

On a cold Wednesday evening at the Academy Stadium in Manchester, the Blues battled to a 1-0 victory.

Wieke Kaptein headed the only goal shortly before half-time (pictured top), while the Blues produced an impressive defensive display at the other end to keep City at bay.

During an even first half, Sandy Baltimore’s block to deny Bunny Shaw kept the game goalless, while City also hit the post. After the break the woodwork frustrated them again, while Hannah Hampton was on hand to make a string of fine saves, preserving our advantage and booking our spot in Sunday’s showpiece at Ashton Gate.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever scored a header!’ matchwinner Kaptein smiled afterwards. ‘Sandy played in a really good ball, and I just saw it. I was thinking I must get on the end of it, and luckily I did.

‘I don’t even score headers in training; they all say I need to use my head more, but I’m not really a header of the ball, so it was really good.’

Bompastor highlighted the defensive effort required to keep out the WSL leaders, and in particular Hampton’s contribution to the shutout.

‘It's really important to have world-class players in your team when you want to have success and win games,’ she said.

‘I have already said that Hannah is the best goalkeeper in the world. Again, she made some big saves and helped the team get a clean sheet. I also want to mention the whole team because the resilience we showed was great, and everyone put a lot of effort into keeping the clean sheet.’

That same evening, Manchester United were battling to a 1-0 away win of their own, against Arsenal, setting up a rerun of last season’s FA Cup final.

Let’s hope for a similar outcome on Sunday!