Venue : Wembley Stadium
Kick-Off : Saturday, 30th april, 17:30 GMT
The Gunners can make history this weekend as they look to become the most successful team in the story of the FA Cup.
The success last year not only ended a nine-year trophy drought for the club as Aaron Ramsey's extra-time goal secured a win over Hull, it also took them at par with Manchester United as 11-time winners of the competition.
One more win this weekend would see Arsenal become the first team to lift the FA cup 12 times, and also to the first side to retain it since Chelsea five years ago.Manager Arsene Wenger has a personal goal on the line too.He would overtake Sir Alex Ferguson as the competition's most successful manager.
Arsenal Recent form in FA Cup: WWWWWW
Arsenal Recent form (all competitions): DWLDDW
For Aston Villa, Saturday has been a long wait. It will be their first ever FA Cup final in 15 years, and their trophy drought extends back even further to 19.
The cup was lifted by them last in 1958.
The current team will be desperate to write their own names into the history books on Saturday.
Keeping the club in the division, Sherwood was succesful in achieving his primary goal but FA Cup glory will without doubt top even Premier League survival.
A bad season would turn into a memorable one for Aston Villa.
They have not been in the best of form. A humiliating 6-1 loss to Southampton was followed by a final-day loss against already-relegated Burnley, but all that will be long forgotten if they achieve glory on Saturday.
They will be the underdogs, but that may not be new for Tim Sherwood. It may be one that he will never ever forget, after defeating Liverpool and shattering Gerrard's dreams of a fairytale goodbye in the semi-finals.
It hasn't been a smooth road for Aston Villa, they have had to overcome three Premier League teams already, and Bournemouth in addition to that will be joining them in the top flight next season.
Villa now are merely one match away from European football next season having narrowly survived in the Premier League.
A-Villa's Recent form in the FA Cup: LWWWWW
A-Villa's Recent form (all competitions): WLWWLL
TEAM NEWS
English International - Danny Welbeck will miss the Wembley encounter with a knee injury.Manager Arsene Wenger confirmed Szczesny incharge between the poles.Alex Ox-Chemberlain and Debuchy are available for selection.
Shay Given is declared fit for Aston Villa.Ciaran Clark (knee) is out while Libor Kozak remains sidelined as he continues to recover from a broken leg.Aly Cissokho (groin), Kieran Richardson (calf) and Jores Okore (knee) are in doubts.
Head To Head
The two sides have never met each other in the showpiece of this competition. They have featured in 28 and won 18 cup finals between them.
They last met in the 4th round of the 2011-12 FA Cup,when the Gunners came from two goals behind to win 3-2, just as they did in last season's final against Hull.
Arsenal won 3-0 at Villa Park in September before going two better in a 5-0 triumph at the Emirates in February, when they met twice in the premier league this season.
Arsenal Expected Line Up:Szczesny; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Cazorla, Coquelin, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud
Aston Villa Expected Line up :Given; Bacuna, Vlaar, Baker, Richardson; Cleverley, Westwood, Delph, Grealish; Agbonlahor, Benteke
0 comments:
Post a Comment