United Women v Brighton: How to follow the FA Cup semi-final
- Vitality Women's FA Cup semi-final
- Saturday 15 April 2023
- Kick-off at 17:15 BST
- Leigh Sports Village, Sale Way, Leigh WN7 4JY
- Tickets available from manutd.com/tickets
LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be available to watch live in the UK on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. In our United App, you can listen to live radio commentary and get team news plus half- and full-time summaries, followed by a match report. You can also get live updates from our designated Twitter account, @ManUtdWomen.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are on sale here now. Prices start from just £3 for concessions and £6 for adults.
TEAM NEWS
Lisa Naalsund remains out for this fixture but Marc Skinner has confirmed he is confident that she will be back before the end of the current campaign. The Norwegian midfielder was forced off through injury during the FA Cup quarter-final.
A number of United players have been away on international duty including Mary Earps, Ella Toone, Alessia Russo, Adriana Leon, Hayley Ladd and Aoife Mannion. The latter was rested in the Republic of Ireland’s second friendly against USA but is expected to be part of the squad on Saturday.
MARC SKINNER SAYS...
“We would love to get to a final, to compete in a final and to win finals going forward. We have a very difficult task ahead of us and this is what I am trying to talk about – the mentality of my group of players is that we go and hunt any opponent that stands in the way of us and success.
“That’s the mentality I want us to have from now until the end of the [season]; I want us to genuinely turn up our heat on every opponent. Brighton specifically will be very tough to play against, so we had better be ready for that.”
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Brighton come to Leigh Sports Village under a new manager. The Women’s Super League club announced the appointment of Melissa Phillips during the international break with interim head coach Amy Merricks leaving to head up the England Under-19s
The Seagulls are bottom of the WSL table, having only won two league games, but they have been on a fine run in the FA Cup by beating West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City and Birmingham City so far in the competition.
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LAST TIME OUT
United faced Brighton in Crawley in our last WSL game before the international break. A first-half goal from Leah Galton put the visitors ahead in the first half and Skinner’s side came out fighting after the break.
The Reds dominated possession but didn’t create anything clear-cut until after the hour mark when Galton took the ball around the keeper to get her second of the game. Two substitutes, Rachel Williams and Lucia Garcia, were on target to add the remaining goals in the 4-0 victory.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
The clubs have met 10 times with United winning eight of those fixtures. Brighton’s only win came on 4 April 2021 when they triumphed 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Inessa Kaagman.
Both encounters in the league this season have ended in 4-0 victories for Skinner’s side.
FACTS AND STATS
This is the furthest United have gone in the Women's FA Cup. Last season, the Reds were knocked out in the fifth round by Manchester City, whilst Brighton lost to Reading in the fourth round.
The Seagulls have previously made it to the semi-finals, in 2020/21 but were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal at Kingsmeadow.
Nikita Parris is the Reds' leading scorer in the competition with four goals. Vilde Boe Risa, Leah Galton, Hannah Blundell and Alessia Russo have also got on the scoresheet.
Brighton have had nine different scorers in the FA Cup this season but Julia Zigiotti Olme, Danielle Carter, Brianna Visalli and Lee Geum-Min have all scored twice.
The south-coast club have not conceded in the competition so far in 2022/23, keeping clean sheets in their previous three games.