The four sides in FA Women’s National League Cup semi-final action this weekend | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest’s two-goal Charlie Wellings celebrates scoring in the final. (Photo: @NFFCWomen)

The semi-finals of the FA Women’s National League Cup take place this weekend.

Plymouth Argyle host Burnley in one semi-final; AFC Bournemouth host West Bromwich Albion in the other.

Here is all you need to know about Sunday’s matches.

Plymouth Argyle v Burnley

Plymouth Argyle, second in the Southern Premier, will be hosting the Northern Premier leaders at Home Park on Sunday.

Plymouth beat Lewes 1-0 at the Dripping Pan in the quarter-final. In the previous round, they came back from two goals down against Oxford United to win 3-2, and began their campaign with a thumping 3-0 win against the Southern Premier’s now-leaders Watford. They also reached the semi-final of the competition last season.

“We’re under no illusions, and know we’re coming up against a fully professional team,” Argyle head coach Marie Hourihan said to the club’s official website. “It’s a cup semi-final, though. We’re at Home Park and have transitioned quite a lot this season, in terms of the team that we are now.

“Everybody is really looking forward to this game. A lot of hard work has been done, and we’ve played a lot of good teams to get to this point. It’ll be an exciting game, one that obviously both teams will be desperate to win, but from our perspective, we’ll be ready and prepared for this game.”

Her Burnley counterpart Lou Roberts said to their club website: “Plymouth are in the Southern Premier League, which has a very different dynamic to our northern section, so it’s going to be a different challenge.

“Coupled with the fact that it’s a cup game, we’re looking at 90 minutes between two teams that will be well organised and very progressive with the ball.

“That should make it a really good fixture for the neutrals.”

Burnley have conceded only one goal in their campaign so far, beating Middlesbrough 3-0, Real Bedford 4-0, and Norton and Stockton Ancients 6-1.

AFC Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion

AFC Bournemouth – third in the Southern Premier but with two games in hand over leaders Watford – have enjoyed a comfortable cruise through the competition thus far, and haven’t conceded a single goal. They defeated Swindon Town 3-0 in the quarter-final, Exeter City 3-0 in the round before, and started off with a 1-0 win over QPR.

“We will do our homework and will make sure we are ready for them,” Cherries head coach Helen Bleazard said this week. “We are really looking forward to it.”

West Bromwich Albion have edged their way through their campaign so far, beating local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 in the quarter-final, and having beaten Leeds United 4-2 on penalties in the round previously. They began their campaign with a 2-0 win at home over Stoke City.

“We won the county cup last year, and we’re hungry for more silverware,” West Brom defender Hannah George told the club’s official website. “We’re in a great position of being in two semi-finals at the moment, it’s a chance to go and do something special.”

What is the FA Women’s National League Cup?

All teams in the FA Women’s National League enter the Cup at the start of the season.

This season has seen a new format, with Professional Game Academy sides now able to join the competition. Teams were drawn into 22 groups of four, with the group winners and ten best runners-up progressing into the cup’s knock-out stages.

The other 12 runners-up and the 20 best teams who finished third moved into the FA Women’s National League Plate knock-out stages.

This year, Plymouth won Group A, AFC Bournemouth won Group E, West Bromwich Albion won Group N, and Burnley won Group T.

The FA Women’s National League Cup final

The venue for this year’s FA Women’s National League Cup final has not yet been confirmed, but the match will take place in the last weekend of March.