Manchester United and Tottenham’s WSL meeting will tell us exactly what to expect in Women’s FA Cup final
As Manchester United and Tottenham prepare to meet in the Women's FA Cup final, the competition is guaranteed to have a brand new winner.
It is the first time since 2005 that none of Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester City have made it to the Wembley showpiece.
After Spurs came from behind to defeat Leicester 2-1 in the semi-finals and Man United shocked Chelsea to win by the same score-line, the finalists must prepare for their decisive meeting.
With Man United currently fourth in the WSL table and Spurs in sixth, there is not much to separate these two sides on paper.
But before their all-important Cup showdown at Wembley Stadium on May 12, the two will have compete in something of a dress rehearsal.
They meet in the WSL on Sunday, April 21, at Leigh Sports Valley in a game which could tell us a lot about what we can expect from the final next month.
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While there may not be silverware at stake, there is the matter of a top four to be decided in the WSL table. Despite only the top three places getting you a place in the Women's Champions League, the top four is still a big goal for WSL clubs.
Spurs are six points behind fourth-placed Man United, but they also have a game in hand.
Given that United still have some difficult fixtures against Liverpool and Chelsea left to play this season, Spurs know they could be in with an outside chance of finishing in the revered top four.
Speaking to the Official Tottenham Hotspur website, Spurs manager Robert Vilahamn explained how their ambitions remained high, despite their current sixth place spot.
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He said: “This is a game where we can try to fight for the top four, so we are only focusing on this game and how to beat Man United."
The Swedish boss insisted that his focus for now remained not on the FA Cup final, but on the individual match ahead of them.
He said: “When we have played this game, we can use it for the final, of course, but, for us, it’s this game and the final is too far away right now to focus on that.
"The mindset we have is on the next game, so the main thing is to have a good starting XI, a good bench, a good game plan and try to beat Man United as we want to compete for the top four. Obviously, that is hard as there are not many games left, but we have a chance and we should go for it in this game.”
The bad news for Spurs - they will be without one of their key stars for both of their meetings with Man United.
Young Lioness Grace Clinton is currently on loan at Tottenham from United and so remains ineligible to play in the fixtures.
Indeed, Clinton will have a big decision to make at the end of the season about which club her future lies at.
But the midfielder will be a huge loss as Spurs are forced to contend with a Man United midfield that contains the likes of Lionesses Ella Toone and Katie Zelem.
The last time these two sides met in the WSL ended up being a day to forget for Spurs.
The Red Devils put four past the north Londoners, despite them welcoming captain Bethany England back for the first time since her hip surgery.
Goals from Toone, Hayley Ladd, Hannah Blundell and Melvine Malard proved how comprehensive their attack could be on a good day.
But as Man United manager Marc Skinner has admitted, Tottenham already look a much stronger side than when they last met in December.
He told the Official Manchester United website: "Respect to Tottenham, I always respect every opponent we play. We prepare to go around their strengths, around their weaknesses."
The highlight of Tottenham's WSL season so far has been their historic 1-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, with Spurs never before having beaten the Gunners in women's football.
The woman of the hour on that day - as she was again on the day of their FA Cup final victory over Leicester - was none other than former Man United striker Martha Thomas.
Thomas made the move from the Red Devils to Spurs at the beginning of the 2023 season having struggled for minutes at her former club.
But the Scottish international has settled like a duck to water at Tottenham - scoring ten goals in all competitions so far this season.
She will be key yet again as she prepares to meet her former side in these two crucial games and Man United would do well to prepare particularly for the aerial threat she poses in the box.
Spurs will not be daunted by the fact that Man United go into these games as slight favourites, especially having recently dispatched giants of the game ManCity in the FA Cup in a match which summed up their progress this season.
As manager Skinner knows, the momentum their FA Cup semi-final win will have given them makes them dangerous indeed.
He said: "I think the difference with Tottenham this year is that, Robert [Vilahamn']s been able to get a run of those moments where you win a game and all of a sudden you get that confidence and you get into a flow state.
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"And I think they've really benefited from that this year. I think what you have to do as a coach playing against that is try and disrupt that flow. If you disrupt the flow and get them to think about how they've got to play football, then you can disrupt their team cohesion, it changes and it adapts."
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