Six reasons why Brighton can shock Man City and win the Women's FA Cup final

It's been a really tough season for Brighton. In late January, the news came through that Rado Vidosic, father of head coach Dario and Brighton's head of women's and girls coaching, had passed away. It was a devastating loss which hit the manager hardest of all, but also crushed the players. Vidosic returned to Australia to be with his family for a period after his father's death and the Seagulls would unsurprisingly struggle in the aftermath, winning one of their next five games.

"It was very, very difficult time for all the players, the staff, obviously Dario not being here, us hearing the news of Rado passing away, and a lot of players absolutely loving and adoring Rado at the time, and we really just clung to each other," Maisie Symonds, Brighton's 23-year-old captain, explained last week. "We were playing well and missing out on points as well. We're building up, putting a lot of energy into every game and coming away with nothing. It was a really, really tough time. We just had to take every day as it came and we stuck together as a group."

That togetherness has shone through in the last two months in particular. Brighton have lost just one of their last seven games, and even that defeat came on the final day of the WSL season when there was nothing at stake. This group has been through a lot, so to go to Wembley is an opportunity they will relish and, when things get tough in the game, they know they can count on each other to stand tall.

"I can't think of a better way of honouring Rado than to go and play at Wembley and play the way that he would have wanted us to play," Symonds said.

There have been some massive results in this final stretch of the season for Brighton. Victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals was massive, while the 1-1 draw against the Gunners in the league the following month was particularly impressive because of how many changes the Seagulls made to their starting line-up and how little it impacted the fluidity of the team. The stand-out result, though, and the most relevant one going into Sunday's final, was the 3-2 win over Man City in late April.

Victory for City would have likely afforded them the opportunity to lift the WSL title at home soil the following week, with a win over Liverpool. But the Seagulls played the role of party poopers to record a result that put the destination of that trophy in doubt for a brief period, until they did City a favour 10 days later by taking a point off Arsenal.

Brighton played brilliantly to defeat the champions-elect, exposing space in behind the full-backs and pressing with intelligence and intensity to unsettle the leaders. That press was something City goalkeeper Khiara Keating picked out as a particular strength of the Seagulls' when speaking to GOAL in the build-up to the final, while winger Lauren Hemp described Sunday's opponents as "a very hard team to beat".

"They play really good football but they also have a mentality as well," the England international added. "In duels, they're hard to get past, they're very physical players and they've got some fantastic individuals - Fran Kirby being one of them. I played with her a lot for England and she's massive for them."

Sunday's match will not be the same as when these two met in April. City will have learned a lot from that defeat and will look to counter some of the avenues which brought Brighton joy, while the simple fact that this is a cup final changes a lot from a psychological perspective. But it is certainly a result that will give the Seagulls belief that they can cause another shock this weekend.

After a tricky run of two wins in seven games, which included a disappointing defeat to relegation-threatened West Ham, and a goalless draw with a Liverpool side also pushing to avoid the drop, the aforementioned quarter-final victory over Arsenal was undoubtedly a massive moment in Brighton's campaign.

For several weeks, they had been delivering good performances and not getting the results - but they got both against the Gunners. "It is all coming together in terms of the style we want to play, the way we play and the culture in the group," Fran Kirby told the Argus after the Seagulls' next game, which was that win over Man City.

"I feel that the excitement actually started after the Arsenal game," Symonds said last week. "It always felt like we had the momentum with us and this was something that we had our eye on, doing well in the FA Cup. The way that we played and we executed the game plan, and to beat them and to go through to the semi-final, it wasn't just the energy it gave us, but it gave us a belief that we could beat anybody.

"We literally showed that we could. The end of the season just became all of a sudden so exciting, because I felt that we had a feeling within the group that we had underperformed in the first half of the season, we weren't where we wanted to be, and then that sort of changed our feeling."

It's given Brighton a rhythm, in terms of performance and winning feeling, that they can carry into Sunday's final along with that belief that they can beat the very best.

While Brighton's squad might not be as star-studded as their opponents, there are plenty of names in this team that can step up and make a difference on Sunday, too. The recruitment under Vidosic has been excellent, with each new addition appearing to be a perfect fit for his system and style, an indication that everyone is on the same page at the club. It means that many players are thriving in the Seagulls' set-up and delivering contributions that have helped the team get this far.

Following Michelle Agyemang's ACL tear in October, which dealt Brighton an unforeseen setback, Kiko Seike has had to shoulder more of the goal-scoring burden and has done so wonderfully, netting 11 times in 25 games. Madison Haley has been vital to the way this team presses, harrying opponents constantly and making great decisions when she wins the ball, while also proving to have a knack for big contributions in big games. Kirby's quality is known plenty, after her incredible chapters with Chelsea and England, while the way Symonds has stepped up in her first season as captain has been so impressive.

Then there are the names that might not be in that starting line-up on Sunday. Fuka Tsunoda, for example, was the player of the match in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal, marking just her second league start with a brilliant goal and performance. It was an indication of the depth that exists in this team because of the smart recruitment.

"Seven girls came in [to the line-up] and you could see the exact same patterns, the exact same style of play within the girls who have not played as regularly, because that's the way that we train every single day," Symonds said. "That's the way [Vidosic] wants us to play, so it's definitely becoming a culture and becoming something that is stronger and stronger."

But Brighton don't just have that quality in attack. Vidosic's style is largely associated with a free-flowing approach but the 39-year-old has worked well to improve the defence, which has conceded just 28 goals in 22 WSL games this season, down from 41 last year.

The back-line has a nice balanced mix of experience from the likes of Moeka Minami, who won the Asian Cup earlier this year with Japan, and exciting youth, with 23-year-old Aussie Charlize Rule one of those to provide a bright spark in recent weeks. Those players sit in front of Chiamaka Nnadozie, the best goalkeeper in the WSL this past season. The Nigeria international is mature beyond her 25 years and will be a key player on Sunday.

Brighton might not have names in this squad as recognisable as Khadija Shaw, Vivianne Miedema or Alex Greenwood, but they have players with the ability to define Sunday's final too, and at both ends of the pitch.

Kirby has contributed plenty to Brighton's season in a tangible sense, with two assists in the win over Man City, two more in the FA Cup quarter-final over Arsenal and a goal and an assist in the previous round, as the Seagulls beat West Ham 2-1. But what she has brought in a leadership and cultural sense, the sort of things that cannot be measured, is just as great.

Whenever Vidosic speaks about the former England international, he emphasises as much. He has regularly acknowledged her role in helping Brighton take that next step, as this team looks to hit milestones that Kirby previously helped an up-and-coming Chelsea project to reach, then conquer, then dominate.

"She helps us a lot, not just on the field, but with leadership quality, experience and her calmness," Vidosic said earlier this year. "It helps the younger players and others around her. She leads by example. You can see when she's missing games, that there is a slight difference. We can't deny her quality or what she brings."

That will be vital on Sunday. Many of Brighton's players have never played at Wembley or on a stage similar to it, and the experience of a cup final will also be new to plenty. Kirby, then, will be leaned on for that leadership and experience, as well as her game-changing qualities. If the Seagulls are to stun Man City again, she will surely play a starring role.