By Tom Garry
Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy has drawn parallels between Arsenal’s situation going into this final and their position before last season’s League Cup showdown, when they came out on top against Chelsea at Selhurst Park.
Just 16 days ago, the north Londoners were well-beaten 3-1 at Stamford Bridge to dent their Women’s Super League title hopes, and with them already being out of the FA Cup and Europe this is their last real hope of silverware this campaign. And the England centre-back says Arsenal want to “write the wrongs” and show their true potential with an improved performance at Molineux today.
“Interestingly last season was similar in terms of being knocked out of the [FA] Cup early, being out of the title race and looking to get some silverware in the Conti Cup. So there are quite a lot of similarities,” Wubben-Moy said. “Having played Chelsea recently and building, it puts us in good stead in terms of how much we can take from that game, how much we can learn and also the feeling that we all have of wanting to write the wrongs.
“We didn’t perform [at Stamford Bridge] and that’s not us. I think if we were looking at ourselves and said, ‘Oh, we did everything, but we still lost.’ I think we’d be in a different place. Ultimately we have a special squad with a lot of talent that hasn’t even fulfilled the potential that we know we can. Looking at opportunities we have to do so, the Conti Cup final day gives us no greater opportunity, to be honest.”
This is the two team’s third meeting in the League Cup final – both having won one of the previous pair of matches. But it’s not just being local rivals that gives this game an edge.
“Fighting for silverware is in both our DNAs, so it gives an extra edge to the competitiveness and what comes out on the day,” Wubben-Moy said. “With Emma Hayes at the helm of their ship having previously been an Arsenal coach, that adds a whole other element as well.
“There’s a lot of contextualised moments that contribute to the rivalry that go far beyond just being a football game. Those moments ultimately give the game an excitement you wouldn’t get from a standard game. To be part of a game like that as a player is helping history be written for that moment but also for the future.”
Stay here for all the team news, build-up and action, with kick off set for 3pm.