Arsenal will begin their quest to end a four-season Vitality Women’s FA Cup trophy drought when they face Gillingham in their fourth round tie at Meadow Park this afternoon.
The Gunners are the competition’s most successful club but the North Londoners have not lifted the trophy since they defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley in the 2016 final.
Arsenal head coach Joe Montemurro could opt to make several changes to his side for this afternoon’s fixture against Gillingham, however, his options may be limited due to both injuries and the deadline for registering WSL Academy players. The Gunners will again be without Jen Beattie, Steph Catley, Viktoria Schnaderbeck and Lisa Evans through injury while Noelle Maritz has returned from international duty with a knock and won’t play. Montemurro has confirmed that Lia Walti and Malin Gut will be given very few minutes this afternoon due to fatigue. Youngster Teyah Goldie could be in-line for a senior debut.
FA Women’s National League South club Gillingham have done exceptionally well to reach the fourth round of this season’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup having beaten both Crawley Wasps and Cheltenham Town in the previous two rounds. Forward Otesha Charles could pose the biggest threat to Arsenal with the player having already netted three goals in this season’s competition.
Arsenal’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Gillingham is scheduled to kick-off at 2pm and will be available for fans to watch live on Arsenal.com and on the club’s App.