Watford Women head into their FA Cup Fourth Round match on Sunday knowing they would make national news headlines should they beat Arsenal and cause one of the greatest upsets of all time.

The Gunners are statistically the most successful club in English women's football, holding the records for most titles won in each top-tier domestic competition they have played in.

They have won the FA Cup a staggering 14 times, and currently sit third in the Women’s Super League table behind Chelsea and Manchester City.

“They are one of the best teams in the world,” admitted Watford head coach Damon Lathrope.

“It would probably be one of the biggest shocks ever in women’s football if we were to beat them.”

Arsenal’s squad includes 24 full internationals from 13 different countries who boast more than 1,500 caps and 400 international goals between them.

They can pick from famous names such as England internationals Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Alessia Russo, as well as Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema and Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe.

Although they lost 1-0 to Spurs just before Christmas, Arsenal has previously been unbeaten in 11 games which included a run of nine consecutive victories.

At this stage of the competition a year ago, Arsenal beat Leeds United 9-0.

“There is zero pressure on us going into the game,” said Lathrope.

“It’s an opportunity for us to give a good representation of ourselves as individuals and as a group.

“We hope that we can show we are a really well organised group, and we will go there to do that. It is a bit of a free hit, and the only way that we can really lose is if we get beaten very heavily.”

Those with less knowledge of the women’s game may look at a fixture between Arsenal, of the top division, and Watford, from the division below, as being similar to the two men’s teams being paired together in a cup tie.

That simply isn’t the case though.

“There’s a huge gulf between each division, and not just between the likes of us and Arsenal in the Super League. There’s a gulf between us and the league below,” Lathrope explained.

“One thing the women’s game is trying to combat is the wide margins between the divisions. It’s getting there but you’ve only got to look and see that the teams promoted to the Super League are finding it hard, and we’re finding it tough in the Championship after being promoted.

“It’s certainly not like Watford men drawing Arsenal in the FA Cup. Far from it.”

Watford have won only one league game in the Championship this season, and that was back on September 10 at Charlton.

They beat Southampton, who are two leagues below them, 6-1 in the third round of the cup, but have kept only one clean sheet in 15 matches this season.

The Golden Girls usually like to press high and get players forward, but the quality of the opposition this week may mean a rethink.

“We’d be seriously naïve to think that we could go and press a team like Arsenal because their quality levels, fitness levels and everything else are on a different planet,” said Lathrope.

“We’re going to have to be smart about how we approach the game as we don’t want to leave ourselves open against world-class players. They have the ability to punish every single mistake you make.

“Having said that, we don’t want to park the bus and put 11 inside our own penalty area as that doesn’t give us the chance to show what we are about.”

With the odds stacked so highly against them, what are the aims for Lathrope and his team on Sunday?

“Giving a good representation of ourselves and reiterating what we – and a lot of others – know about this bunch of players, and that’s they are a hard-working, well-organised group that is well coached,” he said.

“We try to play football with a positive identity and have players who are honest and hard-working.

“If we can show that on Sunday, then that in itself will be a success.”

With the men playing QPR at midday on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, the number of Watford fans likely to make the trip to Boreham Wood’s Meadow Park Stadium to watch the cup tie – which starts at 1pm – will be greatly reduced.

“I think it a shame to be honest,” said Lathrope.

“The game is getting streamed as well, so it would have been a great opportunity for Watford fans to watch us in a big game, either in person or online.

“But the kick-off times being as they are means they can’t, which means we miss an opportunity to show the women’s game to more Watford supporters.”