West Ham face Ipswich Town for a place in the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup
West Ham
This is the last match in a busy run of fixtures for the Hammers in which they have played four games in 10 days. Confidence in the camp will be high after Grace Fisk’s injury-time equaliser against Manchester United in the WSL on Wednesday evening.
West Ham have already seen off the challenges of Sheffield United and Reading in the FA Cup this season and will be hoping to add Ipswich Town to that list. A number of players in the West Ham squad will have good memories of reaching the final of the competition in 2019 when they finished as runners up to Manchester City.
The Hammers will be without long term injury absentees Maisy Barker and Grace Garrad for the trip to play Ipswich.
Olli Harder’s team are the strong favourites to progress to the next round of the competition.
Ipswich Town
Joe Sheehan’s team are top of the Women’s National League Southern Premier Division having lost only once. The Tractor Girls’ total of 62 goals this season is the most in the league. They also possess the meanest defence having conceded just nine goals in 20 matches. Ipswich have had to go on a long journey to reach this stage of the competition having played from the first round (unlike West Ham who entered in the fourth), beating the likes of MK Dons, Crawley Wasps, AFC Wimbledon, Newcastle United and Southampton on their way to the quarter-finals.
They are in good form having won their last three matches and will relish the challenge of playing against a team from the WSL.
Last match between the teams
Sunday’s match will be the first occasion that the two teams have met in a competitive match.
Player to Watch – Natasha Thomas
Natasha Thomas is a forward for Ipswich Town and is the club’s top scorer in all competitions this season with 15 goals. She moved to Ipswich from Lowestoft Town and has enjoyed a fruitful time with the Tractor Girls having scored 114 goals in 146 appearances.
The 25-year-old is the club’s all-time top scorer.
Predicted West Ham XI
Arnold, Fisk, Flaherty, Cissoko, Svitkova, Longhurst, Hasegawa, Snerle, Wyne, Walker, Evans
How to watch
Ipswich Town F.C Women vs West Ham United F.C Women
Date: Sunday 20th March 2022
Venue: Goldstar Ground
Kick-off Time: 12:30PM (GMT)
TV: BBC (BBC iPlayer/BBC Sport website/BBC Red Button)
Streaming: FA Player