A blog of two halves

Crunch time for Blues as they take on Gunners

Chelsea face a cruncher against Arsenal this weekend in the Women’s FA Cup.

23 February 2023
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Lauren James playing for England in the 2023 Arnold Clark Cup competition. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

Chelsea face a cruncher against Arsenal this weekend in the Women's FA Cup, playing at the same time as the men travel to Spurs in the league.

There are positive signs for the Blues as they line up at Kingsmeadow against a Gunners side still without key players Beth Mead and Viv Miedema.

Chelsea's own less-than-secret weapon is Lauren James, who was named player of the tournament after England retained the Arnold Clark cup during the week... a round robin competition which really sorted the women from the girls.

That victory means the Lionesses have even higher hopes for this summer's World Cup down under, with James a key part of manager Sarina Wiegman's plans.

The 21-year-old scored her first goal for England in the 4-0 win against South Korea, and said after helping lift the Arnold Clark trophy: "I hope we can continue to make memories together."

She added: "I've still got work to do, but I'm finding some form and I have confidence at the moment – I just need to continue with that."

James is being described as a generational talent, and the job of Blues manager Emma Hayes and the national team coach is to develop that talent carefully.

Chelsea dithered about shifting Sunday lunchtime's 5th Round cup game against Arsenal to Stamford Bridge, but eventually opted for a sell-out buzz at Kingsmeadow.

It promises to be a tough game, but with the current level of belief at Chelsea, the home side will start favourites. Other intriguing fixtures of the round include West Ham v Villa and Spurs v Reading.

Blues midfielder Sophie Ingle describes the next couple of months as "the money part of the season" and declares: "You want to win everything, and that's not easy to do. We want to potentially win all the trophies."

Top of the wish list remains the Champions League, but all eyes are firmly on this Sunday's game to see if Chelsea can progress to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

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Tim Harrison

Tim is our Chelsea FC blogger.

He also writes our Shepherds Bush Cricket Club match reports during the football close season.

Tim has been writing Chelsea match reports since the late 1980s for newspapers and, more recently, websites.

When he first reported on the Blues, the press box was a metal cage suspended over the lip of the old west stand - and you reached it via a precarious walkway over the heads of the fans.

But he has been a Chelsea fan since his father took an excited seven-year-old to watch Chelsea v Manchester United in the mid 1960s... and covered his ears every time the chanting got too ripe.

In July 2005 he wrote The Rough Guide to Chelsea, published by Penguin, which sold 15,000 copies.

His favourite player of all time is Charlie Cooke, the mazy winger who lit up Chelsea's left wing in the 60s and 70s.

When he isn't watching the Blues, Tim acts, paints, writes and researches local history.

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