City v West Ham: Women's FA Cup match preview

Manchester City F.C.

·16 May 2021

City v West Ham: Women's FA Cup match preview

Everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City's Vitality FA Women's Cup game against West Ham United.

WHEN AND WHERE

City face the Hammers at the Academy Stadium in Round Five on Sunday 16 May and kick-off is at 14:00 (UK).

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The game will be broadcast live on CITY+.

Available across all digital platforms - mancity.com, Man City app and Smart TV, CITY+ provides Cityzens with unrivalled access to new and exclusive City content.

It will allow you to watch full match replays of all men’s and women’s matches 24 hours after the final whistle and original CityTV productions, such as the recently released Kevin De Bruyne documentary, Made in Belgium.

You can sign up to a 30-day free trial, after which CITY+ is just £1.99GBP / month.

Find out more and sign up, here.

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If you can’t tune in, you can follow all the action as it unfolds on our dedicated matchday Twitter account: @ManCityWomen.

A comprehensive match report, as well as reaction from Gareth Taylor and one of our players, will also be available just after full-time here on mancity.com and the Man City App.

GET INVOLVED

We miss seeing you guys at the Academy Stadium! It’s our last home game of the season and you can get involved and show your support for the team by:

• Tweeting the Academy Stadium big screen with your best memory or ‘pick’ of the season using #CityBigScreen. We’ll get them on the screen as the team warm up and PA announcer Danny will be looking at your best moments of the season on the @citysquarelive Twitter account before kick-off!

• Follow the @citysquarelive Twitter and Instagram accounts to see behind-the-scenes on matchday and catch PA announcer Danny at the Academy Stadium !

• We will also have a matchday giveaway you to celebrate another amazing season! You can enter at full-time to win a full team signed shirt. Head over to the City Square Live Twitter to enter from 16:15 (UK time) after the match!

RULES

For safety reasons in the wake of the pandemic, the fixture will be played behind-closed-doors.

In line with current protocols, additional balls will be placed at intervals around the pitch.

Should the match be drawn after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra-time will be played.

If the score remains level after 120 minutes, a penalty shoot-out will determine the winner.

INJURY NEWS

Gareth Taylor confirmed Aoife Mannion will not be in contention.

The defender, who made her long-awaited return from an ACL injury against the Hammers back in February, had been gradually gaining more minutes over the past months before suffering a set-back before last Sunday's trip to East London.

The Head Coach also added that there are no new injury concerns with Chloe Kelly (ACL), Steph Houghton (Achilles), Ellie Roebuck (ankle), Demi Stokes (thigh) and Megan Campbell (knee) all sidelined.

Gareth Taylor preview

"As we're playing West Ham again, we know about them so there wasn't a need to delve into them again. We're prepped on that front, although there are obviously different options they can do.

"I don't think we were surprised in what we saw. They're difficult to beat with a good clean sheet record and a run of draws, which showed evidence of why they'd retained their WSL status.

"They were difficult to play against and we learned a lot from the first game. Ideally, if we'd have taken one of our many chances in the first half, there would possibly have been a different dynamic to the game.

"We have to make sure we're prepped as well as possible to make sure we're in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup."

FORM GUIDE

Current holders City are enjoying a superb run of domestic form and come into the game having won 14 of our previous 15 league games.

Back-to-back FA Cup winners, Taylor's side are currently enjoying our longest winning streak in the competition, triumphing in 11 games - and 17 of our last 18.

West Ham have won one of their last six games in all competitions but have not scored in their last five.

Taylor’s side boast a 100% record over the Hammers, recording wins in each of our last six league meetings.

The pair met in the 2019 Women's FA Cup Final in which City were victorious, winning 3-0, thanks to goals from Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp.

WATCH: Highlights: City seal cup double

LAST MEETING

City signed off the 2020/21 Barclays FA Women’s Super League season with a 1-0 triumph over the Hammers.

Ellen White marked her 32nd birthday with the only goal of the game to claim all three points, which sadly were not enough to secure a second league title, as Chelsea retained top spot with a 5-0 win over Reading.

Taylor’s side gave their absolute all but fortune evaded the visitors, who saw two penalties saved and struck the woodwork three times!

The FA Cup holders pushed Chelsea to the wire, impressively forcing a thrilling title race to the final day with a sensational run of form in the second half of the season, which had seen City win 13 of our previous 14 league games.

Our return of 55 points marks the highest total ever recorded by runners-up, highlighting the fine margins but providing plenty of encouragement for the new season.

WATCH: Extended highlights: West Ham 0-1 City