Arsenal Drawn again - as with the previous season - against mostly second-tier opposition, plus WSL mid-table side
West Ham United, Arsenal improved on their second-place finish in the
2017–18 group stage with a dominating series of results to top their group having secured all twelve points, the high note being an away 9–0 win over
Lewes in which both
Kim Little and
Vivianne Miedema scored
hattricks. The quarter-finals saw Arsenal paired with
Birmingham City, a team only a few paces behind in the WSL title race with three previous WSL Cup final appearances to their names, including two against Arsenal. A tight match saw Birmingham take the lead, but an injury time goal from Miedema would ultimately settle the tie in Arsenal's favour. The semi-final matched Arsenal against the resurrected
Manchester United, who had been performing beyond their second division status all season. An all-Manchester final was prevented, however, as Arsenal took control of the match to seal their place with two more goals from Miedema.
Manchester City In the group stages, Manchester City again found themselves matched with title challengers
Birmingham City, along with
Bristol City and three
Championship sides, playing one more game than Arsenal by virtue of the increased number of teams competing in the tournament compared with the previous season. Their campaign began slowly as they were only able to prevail against Birmingham City on penalties, meaning they would only take two points out of a possible three. With the toughest match already out of the way, they would go on to win all of their remaining games, scoring 17 goals and conceding none in the process. Their quarter-final against
Brighton & Hove Albion would prove to be their highest-scoring in the cup competition, with an initially slow match bursting into life in the closing stages as four goals were scored after the 85th minute. The match drew extra journalistic attention as it came barely 24 hours after Manchester City's men's team had themselves scored nine goals in their own League Cup tie. Manchester City's place in the final would ultimately be assured by the work of
Nikita Parris, who scored both goals as they defeated the reigning
WSL champions
Chelsea, giving them their fourth finals appearance in the previous five competitions. ==Match==