This weekend sees the return of the 2019/2020 Vitality Women’s FA Cup, over seven months on from the culmination of it’s fifth round.
Kicking things off is a North London derby as Tottenham Hotspur travel to Meadow Park to face Arsenal later today.
The competition, which was originally set to conclude four months ago in May, was halted at the quarter-final stage due to COVID-19, and now, six months later, it will continue, with three quick-fire rounds culminating in a behind-closed-doors final at Wembley, scheduled for Sunday 1 November.
It is a unique situation which the eight sides find themselves in, playing an FA Cup quarter-final tie just two weeks into a new season, especially when the games they won to get to this stage happened so long ago but despite this, Spurs’ joint-head coach Karen Hills insist that the team are ready for it. Speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time in their pre-match press conference, Hills said “We are in good shape and we want to be playing competitive football every week so ultimately, it’s another competitive game we want to perform in and try and get a result.”
With only two of their first team players away during the recent international break, this perhaps gives Spurs an advantage over Arsenal, who have been without the majority of their players over the last two weeks. Hills echoed this, saying “We had the international break, so we’ve been able to have a little bit of time.
“We’ve had the majority of the team for the last 10 days and preparation has been very good, we’ve been very together, we’ve set the routine and let them know what’s expected for Saturday.”
When the two historic rivals meet this evening, things will be markedly different from their last match up back in November of last year, when over 38,000 fans descended upon the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to break the record for the highest-ever Barclays FA Women’s Super League attendance.
However, Hills is clear that despite wishing the fans could be there her side will be just as motivated. “To have fans in the stadium is always what you want, it’s like that extra man and it does give you that extra boost, but the motivation is to get into the semi-final of an FA cup, and I think that comes from within, that’s driven from us, the standards that we set in training, the standards we demand from players and what they demand from themselves.
“Ultimately, the players are really focused, they are playing the game and the motivation comes from us trying to get into that semi-final, and I think that’s the only motivation we should need on Saturday.”
For Hills and the team, this weekend also gives them a chance to learn from that last game and take what it taught them forward to motivate them as they get ready to face their historic rivals once again. “We were outstanding, but it was disappointing to not take some of the chances we created” she tells us. “We are going to take a lot of positives from that game. It was the biggest crowd in the WSL and obviously there was a lot of expectation, and I think we dealt with that really well.
“The bottom line is we need to take our chances; we’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net. Ultimately that’s what the game comes down to, but we’ve made so much progress from that game.”
Arsenal have come thundering out of the blocks this season so far, scoring 15 goals in just two games to leave them leading the league table but Hills says her side aren’t phased by this and are ready for the challenge. She said “We always know it’s always going to be an Arsenal team that’s wanting to push for trophies, that’s what they’ve been about for the last 20 years and this season is no different.
“The way we approach the game is that we always want to go and win these games, for us it’s a game we’ve been waiting for since March. We are obviously now going into it with some new exciting players and the game plan is in good shape.
“The way we’ve worked over the last 10 to 14 days in training is outstanding and we are really pleased and focused and ready to give absolutely everything for each other and for the badge. Ultimately it’s the quarter-final of the FA Cup and anything can happen.”
You can watch the Vitality Women’s FA Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur this evening at 5.15pm on BBC Two and on the FA Player.