Man Utd vs Tottenham LIVE: Latest Women’s FA Cup final team news and line-ups

Forward Nikita Parris, United’s top scorer this season with 16 goals in all competitions, won the Women’s Super League, two FA Cups and two League Cups with Manchester City before in 2019 joining Lyon, where her trophy haul included the Champions League.

She is yet to claim further club silverware since returning to English football in 2021, having initially been with Arsenal for a year then signing for United in 2022.

And Parris told the PA news agency: “I think regardless of where I’ve been, the time spent away, the FA Cup has always been special. For me, I want to continue to win silverware and as a club, it would be massive and hopefully help us kick on.

“There’s so many different parts to this game, it’s going to be a test for the team. Many people will say we’re no longer the underdogs like we were last year, but I think we have to focus on what we can do and control.

“To win your first trophy will help build success in the future. You need to know what it takes to win.”

“I don’t mind penalty shoot-outs but I hope and I’d want us to win in normal time,” Spencer admitted.

“Of course, if it did come to a penalty shoot-out, then hopefully I can step up to the plate again.”

United are looking to secure a first major trophy since the team was launched in 2018, having been beaten 1-0 by Chelsea when they made their debut appearance in the final last season.

Forward Nikita Parris, United’s top scorer this season with 16 goals in all competitions, won the Women’s Super League, two FA Cups and two League Cups with Manchester City before in 2019 joining Lyon, where her trophy haul included the Champions League.

She is yet to claim further club silverware since returning to English football in 2021, having initially been with Arsenal for a year then signing for United in 2022.

“Every time we came in after playing one of the FA Cup games, the bus was moving along the journey and it was great seeing it.

“They (Vilahamn and Jepson) always had belief. I think the team then, I think we had that belief to get to that final.

“And we had some easy games, some people say, and then you come up against the likes of Man City where you come back from being 1-0 down and then beat them on penalties.

“You’ve got to beat the best to be the best. So, I think the team deserve to be there and I think Robert and Vicky have kind of fed that through everyone from the start, which is great.”

Becky Spencer had a key role in the shoot-out win over Manchester City, Spurs’ first victory over the current Women’s Super League leaders in four attempts this season.

It has helped Spencer reach another domestic final but she laughed off talk of a repeat of 2012, when the Jamaica goalkeeper starred to help Birmingham clinch the trophy with a 3-2 win on penalties over Chelsea.

“We were playing at Cheshunt in front of like 20, 30 people with no grass. That’s where we were and I’m very grateful for where we’ve come to now,” the 31-year-old reflected.

“For the club and for me personally, where I’ve come from with Spurs, it’s a massive game.

“We’ve obviously already made history, but hopefully we can come home with some silverware to show our hard work and it’d be really nice.”

The Wembley dream started back in January when Vilahamn revealed his own aspirations to make the final ahead of Tottenham’s fourth-round tie at home to Sheffield United.

Assistant Vicky Jepson took things further when she mocked up a picture of the Spurs bus on its way to Wembley with each stop a different round.

Neville added: “Vicky took it upon herself to show this image and it’s been great. It’s our little Tottenham bus and the journey we’ve come on.

Ashleigh Neville insists Tottenham always had belief they could reach a maiden Women’s FA Cup final this season and are now determined to finish the journey with silverware at Wembley.

Spurs face 2023 runners-up Manchester United at the national stadium on Sunday with a new winner of the competition guaranteed.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Tottenham in Robert Vilahamn’s debut campaign in charge after they battled relegation last season and finished ninth.

Full-back Neville quit teaching to pursue a full-time football career with Spurs in 2017, when they had just secured promotion to the second tier, and seven years later they are about to play at a sold-out Wembley for the first time.

Such form may not matter in a cup final, however, but the loss of Grace Clinton certainly will. The 20-year-old midfielder is on loan from Manchester United and is ineligible to face her parent club, a huge blow given her performances for Spurs have seen her break into Sarina Wiegman’s England squad. United are unlikely to make the same mistake of loaning her out next season, either.

Marta Thomas, the former United forward who scored Tottenham’s extra-time winner against Leicester in the semi-finals, could return to punish her former team, however. The Scotland international left United last summer and it has proved to be an astute move for Spurs, while too many of the bigger names United brought in to replace her have not made the desired impact.

It throws forward to another big summer for United as they look to close the gap to the WSL’s best, and a historic FA Cup final that may have a bigger say in the future of their most important player. Earps’s popularity among the masses will be evident, with a second sellout crowd in as many years declared ahead of the Wembley final. And once again, all eyes will be on the England goalkeeper, both against Tottenham and in the next few weeks.

FA Cup or not, there are irrefutable signs that United need to strengthen in the summer, while a decision on Skinner’s future will need to be made. The 41-year-old must also win over a fanbase that has taken to chanting “Skinner out” at times this season, as United failed to build on last season’s title challenge. United have lost all but one of their seven league games against top-four sides. They have dropped points against Leicester, West Ham, Brighton and, just two weeks ago, Tottenham.

For Spurs, it was an improvement on the 4-0 thrashing they suffered earlier in the campaign, and if there are clear divides between teams in the WSL table, they sit somewhere as the best of the rest. It has already been a decent debut season for manager Robert Vilahamn: Tottenham triumphed over Leicester in the semi-finals, taking advantage of the result that opened up the possibility of a cup run when they defeated Manchester City on penalties in the quarter-finals.

But Tottenham will have to perform above themselves if they are to defeat United. While Spurs sit sixth, they have won just one of their nine matches against top-half teams in the WSL this season, but a 1-0 victory over north London rivals Arsenal was the signature result of Vilahamn’s first term. The majority of their points have been picked up against teams in the bottom six.

The FA Cup has therefore come to represent an all-or-nothing quest for United. They will be favourites when they take on first-time finalists Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Sunday, but that comes with additional pressure, too. United’s season will be a failure should they lose, it will be saved if the club lifts its first trophy, six years on from the formation of the women’s team.

It is also on such margins that Earps’s own future will be decided. The England goalkeeper is also out of contract at the end of the season. Interest from Arsenal is well-known, but there are also set to be offers from top clubs in Europe for a goalkeeper named the world’s best two years in a row. Such a status demands playing at the top level, and winning trophies.

Mary Earps threw down her gloves and let out a roar that banished the frustrations of a disappointing season, for an afternoon at least. Manchester United had finally beaten Chelsea, earning revenge for last season’s Women’s FA Cup final defeat to Emma Hayes’s side to book their return to Wembley.

Before then, as a season teetered on the brink, the holders threw everything they had at United and Earps was forced to pull off a string of brilliant saves, twice denying Lauren James, dragging United through. There were wild celebrations at full-time, but also relief and vindication. “This season has been so hard,” Earps revealed. “It’s been mentally brutal.”

Clearly, that was not the plan. United have regressed dramatically in the Women’s Super League this campaign, falling from second to fifth, from title challengers to 12 points off the Champions League places. It has brought scrutiny and dissent towards the manager, Marc Skinner, who is out of contract at the end of the month and has hardly shown that he merits a new one, with United set to be replaced by Liverpool in the top four.