Women’s FA Cup final LIVE: Chelsea vs Manchester United result and reaction as Sam Kerr scores winning goal

It is very warm and very busy at Wembley today - a huge occasion with the first ever sell-out for the Women’s FA Cup final.

Manchester United have developed a taste for late goals this season. “‘Fergie time’ is what we used to call that,” Katie 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.”

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 set 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.

Chelsea vs Manchester United - the big match preview

So, we now know the line-ups for today’s game.

Sam Kerr proved her fitness from the bench against Leicester in midweek and the PFA Player of the Year starts up top for Chelsea today in what is a huge boost to their chances. Pernille Harder is only among the subs, however.

Katie Zelem is back to skipper Manchester United after missing last weekend’s win over Tottenham due to suspension, while the rest of the United team is largely as expected.

Confirmed line-ups

Chelsea XI: Berger; Perisset, Mjelde, Eriksson, Charles; Leupolz, Cuthbert, Fleming; James, Kerr, Reiten.

Manchester United XI: Earps; Batlle, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell; Ladd, Zelem; Parris, Toone, Galton; Russo

The unfortunate Fran Kirby will miss the remainder of the season after yet more injury problems, but Sam Kerr was fit enough to make the bench against Leicester and should be in contention. Pernille Harder showed she was back to full match sharpness with a brace in that midweek encounter.

Manchester United are without Maria Thorisdottir, like Kirby ruled out for the rest of the season. Lisa Naalsund has been back in training this week, while Katie Zelem is back to skipper the side after missing last weekend’s win over Tottenham due to suspension.

Today’s line-ups should be announced in the next 15 minutes or so.

Predicted line-ups

Chelsea XI: Berger; Perisset, Carter, Eriksson; Charles, Cuthbert, Leupolz, Reiten; James, Kerr, Harder.

Manchester United XI: Earps; Batlle, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell; Ladd, Zelem; Parris, Toone, Galton; Russo.

Now Chelsea must go again, and against a United team under Marc Skinner who are hungry to lift the club’s first major title. For Chelsea, having the right attitude to match United’s on their historic occasion will be as important as their tactical plans. The holders have a target on their backs.

“It’s our job to prove we are still at the top,” says Erin Cuthbert. “Trying to remain there is probably the hardest thing. It requires you to adapt and change the way you play a little bit – because everyone starts to figure you out. It’s hard and requires a lot of training and mental toughness.”

Hilariously, the certainty came amid the confusion. “What age am I?” Erin Cuthbert asks, turning to Chelsea’s baffled media officer. “Get it on Wikipedia. I actually don’t know.” After a quick check, the answer turned out to be 24. “Aye,” Cuthbert accepted. “I turn 25 this year, in a couple of months.” So, as the question before put, are you coming into your prime? The reply was quick and decisive. “No. I haven’t yet,” Cuthbert says. “I know there’s more to give.”

Yet open up Chelsea’s trophy-winning machine under Emma Hayes and at its heart you will likely find the Scotland international, whirring away along with the cogs and gears and various parts. After last season’s FA Cup final win against Manchester City, Hayes declared her wish to have a squad of twenty Erin Cuthberts. The versatile midfielder had been awarded player of the match at Wembley, as much for her relentless drive to push Chelsea on in extra time than her strike to light up the final.

“What a moment that was,” Cuthbert grins, and what a goal it was too, “especially when it comes down off the crossbar.”

Football runs in Katie Zelem’s blood. The Manchester native started playing on boys’ teams with Failsworth Dynamos before she was scouted by Manchester United aged eight, and she remained in their youth system before joining Liverpool in 2013 – five years before United would form their current women’s side.

A spell at Juventus followed before Zelem returned to her girlhood club, where her 11 goals from 23 appearances helped earn United promotion to the WSL in their debut season.

Four years later her side remain on course for double silverware, with Chelsea – four points back in the WSL but with two games in hand – their main challengers in both competitions. A maiden Women’s Champions League berth is also tantalisingly close after three consecutive fourth-placed finishes.

Zelem, who at eight was a men’s Champions League flagbearer at Old Trafford, said: “Whenever anybody asks me, Manchester United always lives firmly in my heart and captaining Manchester United, making my United debut and certainly this moment will be up there with my highlights.

Manchester United captain Katie Zelem is keenly aware both club and family bragging rights will be on the line when she leads out her side at Wembley for Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final.

The midfielder’s Women’s Super League-leading Red Devils will look to unseat FA Cup holders Chelsea and claim a first major domestic trophy when they meet at the home of English football, which has sold out for the first time in the competition’s history.

It was at the old Wembley where, 34 years ago, Zelem’s dad Alan likes to remind his daughter he was between the posts for Macclesfield when they lost 1-0 to Telford in the FA Trophy final – a milestone the 27-year-old hopes to overtake with a win this weekend.

“He tells me this all the time. That was my dad’s career highlight for sure,” said Zelem. “If you ever get the chance to meet him I’m sure he’ll tell you he played at Wembley in a cup final and unfortunately they got beat. So hopefully it will be a different outcome for us.

“But as soon as we made it to Wembley he texts me saying, ‘you’re always copying me’. Hopefully I’ll be able to dig out a photo of him there and me there.”