Chelsea Women: Taking a look at CFCW’s upcoming cup draws

Heading into the month of February, Emma Hayes and the Chelsea Women still have a shot at securing all four major trophies. Just two more rounds of the Conti Cup remain, while after a Sam Kerr hattrick in the fourth round of the FA Cup, the Blues need four more wins to capture their third straight Women’s FA Cup.

CFC will learn about its next opponent in the Champions League on February 10 with the draw being streamed live from Nyon, Switzerland at 13:00 CET. Due to Chelsea Women finishing atop Group A, the Blues can draw either Roma, Lyon, or Bayern Munich in a two-legged quarterfinal near the end of March.

With CFC finishing at the top of the WSL table last season for the third straight time, the Blues did not enter either of the domestic cup competitions until this January. In one competition Hayes’ squad seeks revenge for a defeat in the final to Manchester City while the other CFC looks to continue its dominance.

Given the lineups that Hayes has deployed so far in both cups, Hayes does not view any competition to be more significant than the other. Chelsea Women learned about their next opponents in each cup competition during the past week. Here is a look at what Hayes and CFC have in front of them coming up in both domestic cups:

Conti Cup semi-final v West Ham, February 9

On January 26 following a professional display on the road against Tottenham, the Blues received an extremely friendly Conti Cup semifinal draw against its fellow London rivals, West Ham United. CFC have the pleasure to see both Manchester City, and Arsenal battle it out as the Blues take on what has to be the weakest left in the competition.

Paul Konchesky and the Irons edged Liverpool to advance to the semifinals of the Conti Cup through a Dagny Brynjarsdottir header delivered by the right-foot of Viviane Asseyi in the 87′. These two clubs have met each other twice in the Conti Cup before with the Blues outscoring the east London outfit 10-2 over those 180 minutes.

FA Cup fifth round v Arsenal, February 25

It was not the most straightforward of ways to move on to the fifth round of the FA Cup, but Emma Hayes and the Blues were able to hang on to put themselves in the hat. While the Conti Cup draw may have been more on the favorable side, Chelsea Women received a blockbuster matchup against its largest rivals, Arsenal at Kingsmeadow in the FA Cup.

Jonas Eidevall and the Gunners worked National League Division One North side Leeds United Ladies at home 9-0 to propel them towards their goal of lifting their first FA Cup since 2016. The 14-time winners, the Gunners have faced CFC in the FA Cup final three times in the past with the Blues hoisting the cup on two of those occasions.

In order for the Blues to capture the FA Cup once again, they are going to have to go to take down the best. Arsenal was going to come into Chelsea’s path anyway at some point during this competition, and one of these frontrunners will find the end of the road before the cup reaches the quarterfinals. Chelsea Women have made it past the fifth round of the FA Cup for nine straight seasons while Arsenal has made it to at least the semifinals for three consecutive campaigns.

Will Chelsea Women manage to progress through the Women’s FA Cup?