Women's Championship outfit Birmingham City Women will look to cause an FA Cup upset when they play host to top-flight side Brighton & Hove Albion Women in Sunday's quarter-final tie.
The managerless Seagulls will put their Women's Super League relegation scrap on hold as they bid to secure a semi-final place.
Match preview
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After being relegated from the WSL last season, Birmingham are heading towards a second straight season in the Championship with 13 points separating them from league leaders Bristol City.
Although the Blues may be frustrated with their league campaign, they will be pleased to be one of two second-tier sides in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
After thrashing Huddersfield Town 4-0 in the third round, Birmingham eliminated WSL side Everton at the end of January, with a Jade Pennock winner guiding them to a narrow 1-0 victory.
Darren Carter's side faced fellow Championship outfit Charlton Athletic in the previous round, and although neither side were able to break the deadlock inside 90 minutes, Ashley Hodson found a winning goal in extra time to send Birmingham through to the last eight for a fourth consecutive season.
The 2012-13 FA Cup winners, who have been eliminated at this stage of the competition by Chelsea in the previous two seasons, last reached the semi-finals in the 2019-20 campaign when they beat Brighton on penalties in the last eight.
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Since taking over from Jens Scheuer to begin her second interim spell of the season, Amy Merrick has overseen two defeats against difficult opposition.
After losing 3-1 to Chelsea, the Seagulls looked well set to claim a point against Man City last weekend when Elisabeth Terland cancelled out Khadija Shaw's opener.
As it proved, Merrick's side were unable to hold on as Shaw netted an 89th-minute winner to extend Brighton's winless league run to seven games.
The Seagulls are just one point clear of basement side Leicester, who have played two games more, but they will have to put their relegation battle on the backburner as they prepare for Sunday's quarter-final.
Brighton hammered third-tier side West Bromwich Albion 7-0 in the fourth round, before they put five past Championship outfit Coventry United without reply to seal their place in the last eight, and they will be looking to produce another dominant display against lower-tier opposition on Sunday.
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Team News
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Long-term absentee Louanne Worsey has recently stepped up her recovery by featuring for Birmingham's academy side, but she is not expected to be involved against Brighton.
Aston Villa loanee Olivia McLoughlin is cup-tied after featuring for Birmingham's local rivals in the fourth round.
After serving a one-match suspension, Harriet Scott will return to the side to feature in the back three alongside Louise Quinn and Abbi Jenner.
Brighton, meanwhile, are still expected to be without the services of Maisie Symonds and Dejana Stefanovic due to injury issues.
Although the Seagulls were edged out by Man City last weekend, Merrick could opt for consistency and name an unchanged lineup.
Having scored four goals across all competitions this season, Terland will look to add to her tally when she leads the line on Sunday.
Birmingham City Women possible starting lineup:
Thomas; Scott, Lo. Quinn, Jenner; Finn, Estcourt, Devlin, Murray, Wilson; Hodson, Pennock
Brighton & Hove Albion Women possible starting lineup:
Walsh; Kullberg, Morse, Bergsvald, Pattinson; Olme, Connolly; Robinson, Lee Geum-min, Sarri; Terland
We say: Birmingham City Women 1-3 Brighton & Hove Albion Women
Although Brighton are winless in seven league games, they have breezed past lower-tier opposition to secure their place in the FA Cup quarter-final, and we think that they will showcase their top-flight quality to progress to the last four.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Birmingham City Women win with a probability of 48%. A win for Brighton & Hove Albion Women had a probability of 30.18% and a draw had a probability of 21.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Birmingham City Women win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.98%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6%) and 2-0 (5.89%). The likeliest Brighton & Hove Albion Women win was 1-2 (6.98%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.15%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Brighton & Hove Albion Women would win this match.
