Chelsea face a cruncher against Arsenal this weekend in the Women’s FA Cup, playing at the same time as the men travel to Spurs in the league.
There are positive signs for the Blues as they line up at Kingsmeadow against a Gunners side still without key players Beth Mead and Viv Miedema.
Chelsea’s own less-than-secret weapon is Lauren James, who was named player of the tournament after England retained the Arnold Clark cup during the week... a round robin competition which really sorted the women from the girls.
That victory means the Lionesses have even higher hopes for this summer’s World Cup down under, with James a key part of manager Sarina Wiegman’s plans.
The 21-year-old scored her first goal for England in the 4-0 win against South Korea, and said after helping lift the Arnold Clark trophy: “I hope we can continue to make memories together.”
She added: “I’ve still got work to do, but I’m finding some form and I have confidence at the moment – I just need to continue with that.”
James is being described as a generational talent, and the job of Blues manager Emma Hayes and the national team coach is to develop that talent carefully.
Chelsea dithered about shifting Sunday lunchtime’s 5th Round cup game against Arsenal to Stamford Bridge, but eventually opted for a sell-out buzz at Kingsmeadow.
It promises to be a tough game, but with the current level of belief at Chelsea, the home side will start favourites. Other intriguing fixtures of the round include West Ham v Villa and Spurs v Reading.
Blues midfielder Sophie Ingle describes the next couple of months as “the money part of the season” and declares: “You want to win everything, and that’s not easy to do. We want to potentially win all the trophies.”
Top of the wish list remains the Champions League, but all eyes are firmly on this Sunday’s game to see if Chelsea can progress to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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