Chelsea Women faced a tough test in Women’s FA Cup this weekend as they faced a Crystal Palace side that is bottom of the WSL but rolled past two Championship sides on the way to the quarter-finals. In a hard fought win the Blues came out on top with a 1-0 victory thanks to a late goal from superstar Lauren James. it was a far cry from a rollicking 7-0 beating that the Blues gave Palace back in September 2024 as the Eagles held firm against a dominant Chelsea attack.
The Blues had a slightly more difficult path to the quarters as they had to beat a Super League side in Everton in the round of 16. They did so comfortably in a 4-1 win after Everton took an early lead inside 20 minutes.
They now face a Liverpool side that pipped a top tier Arsenal side with a late own goal and held on for dear life after that. Arsenal were one of the favorites to lift the trophy as they are the queens of the competition, having won it 14 times since 1992.
Chelsea have an excellent record against Liverpool in recent history with 9 wins, a draw, and 2 losses in this fixture. One of those wins was recent however as the Reds took down Chelsea 4-3 in May 2024 which was a massive blow to the Blues’ title hopes at the time. They will be looking for revenge though they did defeat the Reds 3-0 in the league back in November.
On the other side of the bracket we have a Manchester derby as United will take on City after they both had narrow wins in the quarterfinals. United are the holders of the FA Cup so they will be looking to repeat to capture their second ever FA Cup title.
City on the other hand have not won the trophy since 2020 where they defeated Everton and their hopes were dashed by Chelsea in 2022 in a dramatic match that went to extra time. Chelsea and City appear to be destined to face each other every other week this spring so we would not be surprised to see them meet again in the FA Cup Final in May.
