Arsenal v Chelsea: Women’s FA Cup semi-final – live!

12.30

1 min Peep peep! Chelsea kick off from right to left.

12.29

Apparently Magda Eriksson has been unwell, which is why she’s only on the bench.

12.24

A reminder of the teams

Arsenal (possible 4-3-3) Zinsberger; McCabe, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, Catley; Walti, Little, Miedema; Mead, Blackstenius, Foord.
Substitutes: Williams, Beattie, Maritz, Wienroither, Nobbs, Maanum, Iwabuchi, Heath, Parris.

Chelsea (possible 3-5-2) Berger; Bright, Nouwen, Carter; Charles, Cuthbert, Ingle, Ji, Reiten; Kerr, England.
Substitutes: Musovic, Eriksson, Fleming, Mjelde, Harder, Spence, Andersson, Abudllina.

12.24

“G’day Rob,” writes Shaun Williams. “Quick shout out to other Aussies wishing to watch the Matilda Ladies in both teams; looks the game is live streaming on the FAPlayer app for free (free sign up required).”

12.12

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11.49

Some more pre-match reading

11.31

Team news

Arsenal make one change from the side that hammered Leicester last weekend, with Steph Catley replacing Laura Wienroither in defence. That probably means a switch to right-back for Katie McCabe.

Emma Hayes makes three changes to the Chelsea side that won equally comfortably against Reading a week ago. Ann-Katrin Berger, Ji So-Yun and Niamh Charles replace Zecira Musovic, Magda Eriksson and Jessie Fleming. It’s a surprise to see Eriksson, in particular, on the bench.

11.03

Chelsea will be without their little superstar Fran Kirby, who has been suffering from severe fatigue. It’s a sad and troubling story.

11.00

Preamble

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the FA Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Chelsea at a sold-out Meadow Park. This is about as moutwatering as it gets: a repeat of last season’s final, and a meeting of the top two in the WSL.

Arsenal have home advantage, but Chelsea will have the happiest memories of hammering Arsenal 3-0 at Wembley in December. (That game, the 2020-21 final, was delayed because of Covid.) One of these teams will be back at Wembley next month to face Manchester City in an equally mouthwatering final.

Chelsea are slight favourites, despite being away from home, but really it’s too close to call. Don’t be surprised if it goes to extra-time, maybe even penalties.

Kick off 12.30pm.

source: theguardian.com