There is the potential of witnessing a Vitality Women’s FA Cup classic on Sunday afternoon when Manchester City and Chelsea contest a semi-final tie at The Academy Stadium.
The two sides are known to produce breathtaking fixtures with there seemingly being a growth of excitement and drama with every contest.
Ahead of the latest fixture, FAWSL Full-Time have assessed the individual player performance statistics from this season published by FBREF and here is our stats combined XI.
Goalkeeper – Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea)
German international keeper Berger has kept clean sheets in 25% of her Barclays FA Women’s Super League games this season which beats Manchester City’s Karima Benameur Taieb who has a 20% shutout rate. Berger has the better pass completion rate for long ball distribution and has stopped double the percentage of crosses of Taieb.
Left-back – Demi Stokes (Manchester City)
With Chelsea regularly playing a back-three with wing backs this season, we have gone for the natural left-back of Demi Stokes. The Manchester City and England defender has made more tackles in the defensive third this season than any defender in either side (six). She has been successful in 63.6% of her tackles against dribblers, significantly more successful than Chelsea’s newly-moulded wing-back Guro Reiten who has won just 33.3% of her tackles. Stokes has a successful pressures percentage which is more than double Reiten’s while she has made eight blocks compared to the Norwegian’s five.
Centre-back – Millie Bright (Chelsea)
Chelsea defender Bright has won half of her tackles and 66.7% of tackles against dribblers. She has the joint-highest number of interceptions in the Chelsea team (16) while her 33 clearances is significantly higher than any other player in either side. Only Esme Morgan beats Bright’s statistics in terms of successful pressures.
Centre-back – Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)
With Manchester City captain Steph Houghton being sidelined, teammate Greenwood has really stepped up to the mark. The Cityzens have won the ball from 80% of Greenwood’s tackles while she has been dribbled past just once. She also has the third-highest successful pressure percentage in the Manchester City team and has made the most blocks of any player on either side (13) and the most interceptions (20).
Right-back – Niamh Charles (Chelsea)
The statistics for the right side of defence are arguably the weakest of any defensive position, this hasn’t been helped by the absences of both Lucy Bronze and Esme Morgan. We have gone with Niamh Charles who beats Georgia Stanway on tackles won by 17%, although they are both similar in successful tackles on dribblers, the latter having been dribbled past on two more occasions. Charles also marginally beats Stanway on successful pressures and interceptions.
Defensive midfield – Sophie Ingle (Chelsea)
Welsh international midfielder Ingle has made more progressive passes than any midfield player on either side this season (30) while her progressive distance with the ball of 3,511 yards is also the best for her position. Chelsea have also won the ball from 77.7% of her tackles, that’s a higher possession win percentage than any other player who has played four or more games.
Central midfield – Ji So-yun (Chelsea)
Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun has averaged 5.37 goal and shot creations per 90 minutes this season, only teammate Jessie Fleming has a greater rate from midfield (6.28). Ji has a pass completion rate of 87.4% and while that it marginally lower than Manchester City midfielders Laura Coombs and Jill Scott, she has attempted more passes. Ji’s three dribbles leading to shots is better than any other midfielder in either side’s ranks.
Central midfield – Laura Coombs (Manchester City)
Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs has the best pass competition rate from midfield of 89.6% while she also ranks the highest in her position for successful pressures (41.1%). Coombs also ranks highly in terms of loose balls recovered (33) while she has won two thirds of her aerial duels. Manchester City have regained the ball from all five of her completed tackles. Coombs is maybe a surprise selection in the XI but the statistics point towards her being a reliable member of her team.
Left forward – Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)
Manchester City forward Lauren Hemp is enjoying a phenomenal season. She ranks the second-highest in terms of shot creating actions per 90 minutes in the forward positions (5.55) while her 22 total shot creating actions can only be beaten by Fran Kirby (29). Hemp has had more dribbles which have led to a shot than any player (four) while she has had a greater percentage of shots on target than Kirby, Pernille Harder and Ellen White.
Centre forward – Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
The centre forward position is a tough one with Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder and Beth England all having strong attributes in their own rights this season. Kerr has had less game time than Harder but she has had a greater percentage of shots on target (52.6% compared to 31.6%). The Australian international’s shots on target per 90 minutes rate of 5.43 is better than Fran Kirby (4.75), Harder (4.36) and England (1.91). Kerr is also ahead of Manchester City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw in terms of shots and shots on target per 90 minutes.
Right forward – Fran Kirby (Chelsea)
Kirby is currently the star attacking talent of the two sides. She has registered the joint-highest number of shots (19) while only Sam Kerr (5.43) has had more average shots per game than Kirby (4.75). Kirby has the highest shot creation actions of any player (29), the highest shot creation action rate per 90 minutes (7.25) and the greatest number of passes leading to a shot (22).
The Vitality Women’s FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Chelsea kicks-off at 12.45pm on Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast live on BBC One. Tickets for the match can be purchased by clicking here.
Statistics: FBREF