14 January 2020

Conti Cup quarter-finals preview: Manchester United face Brighton, Arsenal take on Reading, Chelsea host Aston Villa and Man City welcome Sheffield

The Conti Cup quarter-finals take place tomorrow night with six teams from the Women's Super League in action.

Two Championship sides are also in the mix, so will it be a WSL white wash? Or will there be a few upsets? Here's everything you need to know about the teams and fixtures.

Man Utd v Brighton and Hove Albion

United's captain Katie Zelem will be hoping to lead her side to victory (PA Images)

Manchester United won all four of their group matches, including a stellar 11-1 win over Leicester City and a 2-0 victory over rivals Manchester City.

Brighton won four of their five group matches, toppling defending WSL champions Arsenal 4-2 on penalties but losing 2-0 to Bristol City in the second group match.

United will be hoping star striker Lauren James will be fully firing as The Seagulls will be looking to get back on winning form after losing 4-0 to Arsenal in the WSL last weekend.

Albion's Megan Connolly and Aileen Whelan have proved effective up front this season and will be looking for their side to kick on.

Both teams reached the quarter-finals last season. United, who were then in the Championship, beat West Ham 2-0 only to go out in the semis 2-1 to Arsenal.

Brighton faced Manchester City and were on the wrong end of a 7-1 hammering.

The match kicks off at 7.30pm and is being held a Leigh Sports Village.

Chelsea v Aston Villa

Bethany England celebrating a goal this season (PA Images)

Aston Villa lost two of their group matches to Durham and Coventry United, but did secure a win over WSL side Liverpool on their route to the quarters.

Chelsea only lost one group game against Reading when The Blues lost 4-2 on penalties. They had an emphatic victory over Tottenham, beating the newly promoted WSL team 5-1.

Bethany England's name has been on everyone's lips when talking about Chelsea and Villa will have to find a way of stopping the in-form striker.

Villa are currently Championship league leaders, having won 11 matches and drawn one. Forward Megan Foll has been pivotal for the side, especially against Sheffield United at the weekend when she scored the only goal of the game.

Villa didn't reach the quarters last year but Chelsea did, beating Reading 4-0 to make the semi-final but then losing 2-0 to Manchester City.

Their match kicks off tomorrow evening at 7.30pm at Kingsmeadow.

Arsenal v Reading

Vivianne Miedema has scored 16 goals for Arsenal this season (PA Images)

Arsenal only lost one group match and that was against Brighton, 4-2 on penalties.

Similarly, Reading were only defeated once at the hands of West Ham, but did have wins over Chelsea and Tottenham.

Vivianne Miedema is the striker to watch out for in The Gunners team, the forward has scored 16 goals this season across all competitions.

Reading's Lisa-Marie Utland signed for the southern side in the summer and has proved her weight in gold. She scored five goals in their 6-0 Conti Cup win over Crystal Palace.

The Gunners lost the final on penalties last year to Manchester City and so will be looking to go one better this year.

Reading reached the quarters last year but lost 4-0 to Chelsea to end their tournament.

The match kicks off tomorrow evening at 7.30pm and at Meadow Park.

Sheffield United v Manchester City

Bremer scored two goals for City against Everton (Twitter: Man City Women)

United lost two of their group matches to Aston Villa and Coventry United, but secured a 3-2 victory over WSL team Liverpool on the opening weekend of the competition.

Manchester City only lost one group game, to rivals Manchester United. Their most impressive group victory was over Championship side Leicester City, which they won 5-0.

City have bags of star strikers - Georgia Stanway, Ellen White and Pauline Bremer. The German international scored two goals in their WSL win over Everton last Saturday.

United are currently second in the Championship, only six points behind Aston Villa.

Man City are the defending champions after beating Arsenal 4-2 on penalties in the final last year. United did not make the quarters last season.

The match kicks off tomorrow evening at 7.30pm at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.

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