SSE Women's FA Cup semi-final preview: Manchester City v Liverpool

Wednesday 12 Apr 2017

After being stung twice in the SSE Women’s FA Cup semi-finals in the past two seasons, boss Nick Cushing is hoping to make it third time lucky as Manchester City prepare to take on Liverpool.

With a place at Wembley at stake, City welcome two-time runners-up Liverpool to the Academy Stadium on Easter Monday.

Cushing’s team have been eliminated from this stage of the competition by Chelsea in each of the last two seasons, costing the Women’s Super League 1 and Continental Tyres Cup winners their chance to walk out at the national stadium.

But, sick of that losing feeling, Cushing is determined to learn from mistakes of the past.

“We always want to do well in the FA Cup,” he said.

“We’ve got a little bit of added motivation because the first year it was at Wembley we lost in the 83rd minute of the semi-final to Chelsea and last year we lost in the 103rd minute to Chelsea after going 1-0 up.

“I think that’s been our problem in the semi-finals over the last couple of years, we’ve been desperate to get to Wembley.

“We’ve been emotional and illogical and really desperate to go and play at Wembley and that’s natural, but we’re not at our best when we do that.

“I think we’ve learned two very valuable lessons and we’re in a really good place to go and be the best version of Manchester City we can.”

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City were imperious on the way to winning the 2016 league title, dropping just six points and conceding four goals all season.

But Liverpool had their number, drawing both league matches against City and are the only team that have stopped them from scoring in a league match since April 2015.

And defender Jennifer Beattie is expecting a similarly tough task.

“We drew against them twice in the league so we know what a tough team they are,” said Beattie, a Women’s FA Cup winner with former club Arsenal.

“They had a very strong performance to get the win in the last round against Notts County, so they’ll be looking forward to the game just as much as we are.

“We’ve never made it to Wembley as a team yet so it’s one we want to go all the way in, but we have to focus on Liverpool first and foremost, they can’t be underestimated.

“They're very well organised and have a lot of pace up front, have some great set-piece takers and great finishers too.

“They've scored a couple of goals against us which not many teams did last season.

“We had a really good pre-season behind us and we’ve had a few good results already, we’re feeling strong.”

Tickets for The Final are already on sale and children can attend for free, thanks to The FA’s partnership with SSE.

Adult tickets are priced £15 and group booking and Charter Standard discounts apply.

Tickets can be bought via TheFA.com/Tickets or by calling 0844 826 2010.

By Josh Richards Digital Producer

Third time lucky?