Arsenal to play West Ham in FA Women’s Cup

The draw for the 4th Round of the FA Women’s Cup took place earlier today, and Arsenal Women were drawn to go away to West Ham United. West Ham were finalists in last year’s FA Women’s Cup, before losing to Manchester City Women in the final at Wembley.

The 23 teams of the FA Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship were drawn at this stage, joining the nine teams that won in the Third Round. With most teams at this stage semi-professional, Arsenal got a more difficult draw than they would’ve wished, with Manchester City also getting a difficult tie, with an away game against Manchester United.

Arsenal are record winners of the FA Women’s Cup, having won the competition fourteen times. In Joe Montemurro’s first season, they reached the final before losing to Chelsea 3-1, with Arsenal last winning the competition in 2016.

The tie will be played on January 26, adding to Arsenal’s fixture congestion. Arsenal play Brighton this weekend, Reading in the Continental Cup quarter-final on Wednesday the 15th, with Chelsea in the league the following weekend. A potential semi-final in the Continental Cup would be in the middle of the following week, before the FA Cup tie.

Having loaned out Emma Mitchell to Spurs, Arsenal are down to fifteen fit first-team players, although Katrine Veje and Jen Beattie are expected to return to full fitness imminently. Arsenal are also expected to make one addition in this winter’s transfer window.