Aston Villa Women have the chance to make history this weekend when they take on Chelsea in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup semi-finals.
Carla Ward and co. will welcome the Blues to Poundland Bescot Stadium and are vying to progress to a first major cup final in the club’s history.
There is no sterner test than the one presented by Emma Hayes and her Chelsea side; proven just two weeks ago when they ran out 3-0 winners at the Bescot in the Barclays WSL.
Ward insists lessons will be learnt from that encounter.
After all, Villa were riding an eight-game unbeaten run ahead of the clash with the champions.
The team have captured the imaginations of many throughout the 2022/23 season, amassing more points than their total from the previous campaign while finding the back of the net with much more regularity.
Spearheaded by Rachel Daly, scorer of 22 goals in all competitions, a talismanic spine has formed through strong performances by the likes of Kenza Dali, Dan Turner and Hannah Hampton.
With Wembley in sight, Sunday afternoon is set to be a classic.
Sunday's visitors to Poundland Bescot Stadium are Chelsea.
Emma Hayes’ side are still fighting on three fronts having overcome Lyon to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
That gruelling tie ended up going the distance, with Chelsea prevailing on penalties to set up a final-four clash with Barcelona.
Three days after that battle with the French outfit, Chelsea dusted themselves down to win 3-0 against a confident Villa side to maintain their title challenge.
Goals from Jelena Cankovic, Guro Reiten and Sam Kerr put Villa to the sword, giving Carla Ward plenty to think about ahead of this weekend's rematch.
The Last Meeting
A mentioned, Villa Women's unbeaten run came to an end with a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea when these two sides met a couple of weeks ago.
Goals from Jelena Čanković, Guro Reiten and Sam Kerr proved too much for Villa as Chelsea's title charge continued.
The Boss
“You always dream about these moments and getting to Wembley… there’s an excitement growing because it’s an opportunity. I won’t hide it, we’re excited.”
Carla Ward
