List of All Articles with Tag 't'

Chelsea are coming for Manchester United. They have been for most of the season, after all. In the Women’s Super League it has been United who have set the pace at the top, with defending champions Chelsea in pursuit, inching closer as the games in hand have ticked down. Chelsea have won both encounters between the sides this campaign, and if they win their next three league fixtures the title will be theirs once again. United, despite enjoying a year of considerable progress, would be powerless to stop it. But at Wembley on Sunday, as Manchester United face Chelsea in the Women’s FA Cup final, Marc Skinner’s side will be in control of their own fate. They will meet on equal footing, with one half of a sold out Wembley bathed in red, the other soaked in blue, on what is another historic occasion in the women’s game this season. An attendance of almost 90,000 will smash the record for a women’s club match in England and sets the stage for United’s first Women’s FA Cup final, five years on from the team’s rebirth in 2018. This season has seen United take an important step forward - yet the presence of Chelsea in the final is a daunting reminder of how far there is still to go. While United aim to win a first major trophy, Chelsea are going for their third FA Cup in a row under Emma Hayes, as well as a fourth consecutive WSL crown. The title race is unfamiliar ground for United but Chelsea have been here before; last season brought the double, the year before a treble. Now a double beckons once again. Though for United, it beckons too. After knocking on the door of England’s top three in recent years, United have smashed through this season. Champions League qualification was the target at the start of the year but Skinner’s team have surpassed that, turning games that would have finished as draws last term into wins to lead Chelsea by a point and reach the FA Cup final. There is a spirit and momentum behind the Manchester side, but the problem for the WSL leaders is they have only lost two games this season, and both have been to Chelsea. “Beating them in both games, it’s a good psychological advantage,” says Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert, but United believe they are getting closer. “Every time we play Chelsea, we improve,” says United’s captain Katie Zelem. “We know what they are about.” Trying to overcome it is another question, though. In March’s league meeting at Kingsmeadow, Chelsea stifled United without the ball and won the game thanks to a moment of brilliance from Sam Kerr. The Londoners’ approach was one usually reserved for the likes of Barcelona or Lyon in the Champions League, which shows the level of respect this United side are demanding. “What they have done is brilliant,” Cuthbert admitted. “We know what their threats are but it’s about confidence and belief,” Zelem continued. The England international is one of the remaining members of the side that earned promotion from the Championship in 2019, along with Ella Toone, Leah Galton and Millie Turner, and recognises the difference in mentality this season. “We don’t change now for the other teams, whereas in the first few seasons it was more about staying in the game and taking a point or nicking a win.” Zelem added. “Now, you see in a lot of the games we dominate possession, we dominate the ball.” United have also developed a taste for late goals. “‘Fergie time’ is what we used to call that,” Zelem laughs. November’s 3-2 win against Arsenal at the Emirates was the “turning point”, after an 87th-minute equaliser from Turner and a 91st-minute winner from Alessia Russo. It showed United that they could take the next step. “When we play against Arsenal it feels like we have a psychological edge over them now,” Zelem states. “It’s about taking that mentality into Chelsea.” For Chelsea, the challenge will be in how they rise to United’s motivation. “They are a team who are hungry - when you haven’t won anything you’ve got a certain hunger and desire to get there,” Cuthbert says. “We need to match that as a bare minimum if we want to compete and win this battle.” Chelsea will also have the experience of the occasion, while the danger for United is they fail to turn up in the way teams often do after ending a long wait for a major final. “It’s the mentality of who turns up on the day,” says Cuthbert. “Who shows up and is present, and who doesn’t let the game get to them.” You can usually guarantee that Chelsea take to Wembley when they arrive, in the same way a certain Australian striker does. Kerr has scored doubles in each of Chelsea’s previous two FA Cup final wins - the first against Arsenal in 2021 was sensational, the second against Manchester City last season utterly dramatic. This year, Chelsea have hit their stride following defeat to Barcelona in the Nou Camp in the Champions League semi-finals, rattling off a 7-0 win over Everton and a 6-0 win against Leicester in their last two games. Pernille Harder has returned from injury to hit braces in both, in what is a further boost ahead of the rest of the run-in. Having a target to aim for has helped Chelsea. “I like this position,” Hayes said after Wednesday’s Leicester win returned them to a point behind United. “I like putting pressure on others, it’s fun for me.” It hasn’t been much fun for Chelsea’s rivals in previous years, and as United come face to face with the trophy-winning machine who are breathing down their necks at Wembley, it will be their turn to try and avoid a familiar fate. Read More ‘Everyone wants to see us fail’: How Erin Cuthbert drives Chelsea to stay on top ‘Manchester United lives in my heart’: How Katie Zelem epitomises ‘crazy journey’ to FA Cup final Emma Hayes revelling in Chelsea’s WSL title pursuit of Manchester United How Katie Zelem epitomises Man United’s ‘crazy journey’ to FA Cup final Unai Emery urges Aston Villa to grasp European chance ahead of Tottenham clash I love the big games – Sam Kerr relishing FA Cup final at sold-out Wembley

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been named April's Premier League player of the month.

José Mourinho, who in 2004 famously referred to himself as the 'The Special One' as he was introduced to the media as the new Chelsea manager, is having quite a week.

Jannik Sinner was nearly unbeatable on his serve in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Thanasi Kokkinakis in his opening match at the Italian Open

Tennessee Titans' 2023 Schedule Release Video Is Super Funny

Everton host Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday. Preview includes team news, predicted lineups, how to watch on television and live stream, prediction and more.

The NFL schedule has officially been released, which means we can all start looking at our teams and start to predict their wins and losses. "Win, win, win, loss, win, loss".Somehow, when we do that, all of our teams end up with a 10-7 or 11-6 record. But, even if we all have more conf...

A coincidence, a repetition, whatever. I'm going to make baseball fun this week because MLB is still playing games, or so I've been told.While your favorite NFL team drafted badly, your favorite MLB team kept playing games with us.I don't know if it's a good thing or a ba...

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has been asked about the notoriety assistant coach Jason Tindall has been getting on social media.

Former Aberdeen FC players who famously won the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup are honoured.

David Moyes has admitted for the first time that there is a “good chance” Declan Rice will leave West Ham this summer. Hammers captain Rice has ambitions to play for a Champions League club but has a price tag of around £100million. Nevertheless, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all understood to be interested in the England midfielder. “We honestly hope he stays,” said Moyes. “We’d love for him to be a West Ham player but we are aware that might not be the case at the end of the season. “So that’s one of the scenarios around planning. There are plans that we have Dec here but we’re also fully aware there is a good chance we won’t have him.” Moyes has been unable to formulate plans for next season while West Ham’s Premier League status remains unclear, although last week’s win over Manchester United has left them all but safe. “The planning has been put on the back burner. It’s always been about making sure you’re a Premier League club,” added the Scot. “Your planning will go completely if you weren’t. “A lot of it will only start to go into place once we’ve realised we have kept our Premier League place. We’re watching a lot of players, a lot of games, doing a lot of scouting, but the truth is the focus has been on staying in the Premier League.” There are plans that we have Dec here but we’re also fully aware there is a good chance we won’t have him David Moyes on Declan Rice West Ham head to Brentford on Sunday on the back of Thursday night’s 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final. Moyes is set to make changes with the second leg in the Netherlands in mind, with Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio – who was limping after the AZ match – expected to be rested. “We are still assessing a lot of players, we are less than 24 hours from the game,” he said. “There are obviously knocks and bruises but I am hoping Michail is not too bad. “We will assess him but he should be good for Sunday.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Man City boss Pep Guardiola focused on Everton rather than Champions League semi Kevin Sinfield set for ‘incredible’ day at inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon Lancashire and England seamer James Anderson receiving treatment for minor issue

Pep Guardiola insists all thoughts of Manchester City’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid have been put to one side ahead of Sunday’s trip to Everton. City will hope to claim a place in the final when they host the Spanish giants next Wednesday after drawing 1-1 in the first leg of their last-four tie on Tuesday. Yet the Premier League leaders have little opportunity to ease up beforehand as they face the relegation-threatened Toffees in a clash crucial at both ends of the table. Guardiola said at a press conference: “My thought is just Everton – no more than that. “It’s 11 months working for the Premier League. We don’t have much time to Madrid because we play Sunday – thank you so much – but it’s a real, real priority, Goodison Park.” Real have an extra day’s rest before the second leg as they are in action on Saturday this weekend. Guardiola would have preferred to play on Saturday too but says he is beyond complaining about the schedule. He said: “I can’t understand it but I’m not going to fight it anymore. “I don’t understand it but we have to adapt. The schedule, it is what it is.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live