Manchester United are hoping to reach the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup for the first time but face a last eight tie against Women’s Championship side Lewes.
Lewis is a pioneer in the women’s game. The East Sussex club famously operates both men’s and women’s teams on equal budgets and this week wrote an open letter to Women’s Football Review chairman Karen Carney on the subject of equal prize money in the FA Cup – the women’s competition this season The fund is £3m, while for the men the total is almost £20m.
United, after being knocked off the top of the WSL by Chelsea in their last outing, will be hoping to get back to winning ways in the most favorable tie available to them at this stage.
Lewis, who sold out tickets for this one and handed United a 15% designated away allocation, are currently seventh in the Championship, only one place higher than the Durham side that United beat 5-0 in the previous round of the competition. beat by 0.
These sides have not met since 2018/19 when United won 2–0 and 5–0 at home, being presented with the championship trophy after the latter game.
When is kick off? Sunday March 19, 12:30 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? dripping cry
TV Channel/Live Stream? BBC iPlayer/Red Button (UK), FA Player (International)
Referee? Stacy Fulix
Lewis was missing Ally Hack, Jamie Rita and Lauren Herria in the recent Championship defeat to London City Lionesses. The Roux have some Chelsea youngsters on loan to call on forward Emma Thompson (pictured above) and defender Charlotte Wardlaw.
Full-back Jayde Riviere is still the only player missing for Mark Skinner. The Canadian began training with the squad on Tuesday and is expected to progress to a full season next week.
Fellow January arrival Lisa Nallasund is awaiting her debut after being an unused substitute against Leicester and Chelsea this month – she was not available before.
There are likely to be some changes to the squad that started against Chelsea, with Vilde Bo Risa, Estelle Cascarino, Adriana Leon and Aisatou Tonkara also hoping for opportunities.
Mark Skinner has emphasized that United Will not be taking this tie lightly in terms of preparations, despite the obvious mismatch between the sides in terms of league status, and is expecting Lewis’ counterpart Scott Booth to want to play with the ball.
But this weekend the hosts have been struggling for goals in the league this season and that is not a good sign against the second worst defense in the top flight. Even with possible changes, United should still have quality – as seen against Durham – to secure a comfortable victory.
Prediction: Lewis 0-4 Man Ud
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