The last piece of domestic silverware of the season is up for grabs at Wembley on Sunday as Chelsea take on Manchester United in the Women’s FA Cup final. Who will lift the trophy?
Wembley beckons for Chelsea and Manchester United this Sunday as they go head-to-head to win the final piece of domestic silverware available this season – the Women’s FA Cup.
Chelsea are looking to complete a famous domestic treble, while United are bidding to defend the trophy they won for the first time last year.
The Blues have been on fire domestically this season, picking up the first trophy of the campaign by winning the League Cup as they defeated Manchester City 2-1 in a tense final at Pride Park in March.
They also completed an unbeaten season in the Women’s Super League – the first ever in a 22-game campaign (W19 D3) – and set a new points record for the competition (60) in Sonia Bompastor’s first term with the club.
United have also surpassed expectations this season, taking the race for second in the WSL right to the wire, only to finish third following a 4-3 final-day defeat to Arsenal.
But securing Champions League qualification ahead of Man City was a huge boost for Marc Skinner’s side, and silverware would cap a superb campaign of progress.
Chasing the Treble
Stopping Chelsea will be a mammoth task for Man Utd.
Bompastor had a tough act to follow when she took the reins, with the legacy of Emma Hayes’ tenure looming large.
However, the former Lyon boss has more than risen to the occasion, and despite the disappointment of a heavy Champions League semi-final defeat to Barcelona, she can be pleased with her first season in charge.
She could now become the third manager in the WSL era to win a domestic treble, after Laura Harvey (with Arsenal in 2011 – WSL, FA Cup, WSL Cup) and Hayes (Chelsea in 2020-21 – WSL, FA Cup, League Cup).
The fact this feat has only been achieved on two occasions shows just how good Chelsea have been this season. While Lucy Bronze, Sandy Baltimore and Keira Walsh were brought in with European success in mind, the Blues have certainly stepped up a level domestically.
Chelsea were the most recent side to win both domestic cups in the same season as part of their 2020-21 treble. On that occasion, they beat Bristol City in the League Cup final and Arsenal in the FA Cup showpiece.
Bompastor could also end a long wait for a non-British manager to win the FA Cup, with Spaniard Pedro Martínez Losa doing so most recently with Arsenal in 2016 – beating Chelsea in the final.
The Frenchwoman has won all four of her domestic finals as a manager, three with Lyon and one with Chelsea, and the Blues can match her winning pedigree.
Chelsea will contest their eighth Women’s FA Cup final, having won five of their previous seven (in 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023). Only Arsenal (14 times), Southampton (eight) and Doncaster Rovers Belles (six) have won the competition more often.
Red Devils to Spoil the Party?
This final won’t be a formality for the Blues, however. Buoyed by last year’s success in this competition, United will be hungry to go back-to-back.
The Red Devils won their first major trophy when they lifted the FA Cup last term, beating Tottenham Hotspur in the final, and they are now looking to become just the second team to win their maiden trophy in the competition and successfully defend it the very next campaign. Fulham were the first to achieve that in 2001 and 2002.
United have reached their third Women’s FA Cup final and are the first team from outside London to reach the final of the competition in three consecutive seasons since Liverpool between 1994 and 1996. They lost to Chelsea in 2023 before beating Spurs 4-0 last season.
Hayes (seven) is the only manager to have reached the Women’s FA Cup final more often in the WSL era than Man Utd boss Skinner (four including 2025). He was a runner-up with Birmingham City in 2017 and United in 2023, before finally getting his hands on the trophy last term.
United have reached this season’s Women’s FA Cup final having scored 18 goals and conceded just once in their four matches in the competition, beating West Brom 7-0, Wolves 6-0, Sunderland 3-1 and Man City 2-0.
As a result, only three WSL teams have reached the final with a better goal difference than United’s +17 – Arsenal in 2020-21 (+26), Chelsea in 2017-18 (+21) and Man City in 2021-22 (+18).
Skinner will be confident that his side have the tools to overcome the Chelsea juggernaut. United had the second-best defensive record in the WSL this season, with only Chelsea (13) conceding fewer goals than the Red Devils’ 16. United will need to draw on that resilience to keep the Blues out.
Chelsea vs Man Utd Head-to-Head
In the teams’ last meeting at the end of April, Chelsea won 1-0 to clinch the WSL title. However, that was a tightly contested affair and United were fairly profligate in front of goal, having 16 shots, five of which were on target, but failing to hit the back of the net.
They created 1.8 xG, bettering Chelsea’s 1.3 xG from 11 attempts (six on target). United also had four ‘big’ chances in that meeting, compared to three for Chelsea, but Bronze’s second-half header proved decisive.
Sunday’s encounter will be the third Women’s FA Cup meeting between Chelsea and Man Utd, with the Blues winning 1-0 in the 2023 final before the Red Devils earned revenge in last season’s semi-final clash, winning 2-1.
Nevertheless, historically, Chelsea do have the upper hand. They’ve won 13 of their last 15 meetings with United across all competitions (D1 L1), with the Manchester club losing more games to the Blues (13) than any other opponent since they became a WSL club in 2019-20.
Chelsea vs Man Utd: Women’s FA Cup Final Prediction
The Opta supercomputer makes Chelsea comfortable favourites to win at Wembley on Sunday. Bompastor’s side were victorious inside 90 minutes in 58.3% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations.
United won in normal time in 18.3% of the sims, while the remaining 23.4% went to at least extra-time.
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Women’s FA Cup Final Preview: Chelsea vs Manchester United Opta Analyst.
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