FA Cup Final Preview: Arsenal v Aston Villa

The 134th FA Cup Final will be played on Saturday at Wembley Stadium between Arsenal and Aston Villa, and here are my thoughts on the match itself and ending in my prediction on who will win the trophy.

Arsenal with the exception of Danny Welbeck who is injured, has a strong squad to choose from, with Matthieu Debuchy and Mikel Arteta now fit. They have a decision to make at goalkeeper with either a choice of Wojecech Szcesny or David Ospina to start and also a decision in attack with either Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott, after Walcott’s 3 goal performance last weekend.

Aston Villa have Calum Clark and Libor Kozak out injured and unavailable. Shay Given should be passed fit, so a selection decision between him and Brad Guzan. Aly Cissokho, Jores Okore and Kieran Richardson have all been passed fit since recent injuries.

I see this match being a close affair, Arsenal on their day can be very pleasing on the eye, with incisive passing and creativity from the likes of Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey and Sanchez, and are capable of carving teams open.

Villa need to defend deep and look to catch Arsenal on the counter, as they did successfully in August at the Emirates in an away victory. Also, Villa need to be accurate in attacking positions with set pieces, they have an advantage in this area, with the likes of Ron Vlaar and Christian Benteke, so whoever is assigned those set pieces be it Grealish or Bacuna has to be spot on.

I fully expect Benteke to be relishing the prospect of playing against that Arsenal defence, and with rumours of clubs looking to make a bid for him this summer, I am expecting a big performance from him.

Odds: Arsenal to win 4/7. Draw 17/5. Aston Villa to win 6/1.

Prediction: 2-1 Arsenal with Ramsey notching the winner.