That can be particularly advantageous when it comes to the way Chelsea approach these games. Reflecting on last year’s League Cup final, which saw the Blues beat Man City 2-1 to win the trophy, Cuthbert recalls that it “became any old game” to her, “because at that point in the season, every game is a cup final”.
“Yes, there's a trophy at stake, but there's a trophy at stake in every single game that we're competing in,” she explains. “That's the sort of mindset that, if you get in a habit that every single game matters, it means you're not going to be over-awed by the occasion.”
Do other teams have that mentality? Chelsea have been battling for multiple trophies for many years while Sunday’s opponents United, for example, are much newer to this. Could that work in the Blues’ favour? “You can play the occasion and not the game, and I think that's a dangerous place to be in,” Cuthbert notes of the more inexperienced sides.