Arsenal are ready to play Aston Villa in the FA Cup final with hope of becoming the only 8^th side in the history of this competition to retain their FA Cup title.

Arsenal are also looking to become the first ever team to lift the FA Cup for 12^th time and go on to become the most successful side ever in the history of this competition.

Arsenal will start as the firm favorites against an Aston Villa side who have seen a great resurgence under their new manager Tim Sherwood.

Aston Villa have reached the finals after beating three Premier League teams including their stunning semi final win over Liverpool. Aston Villa are chasing a place in Europe as well since the Villains will be guaranteed a Europa League place if they win the FA Cup final.

This will be Aston Villa’s first FA Cup finals since 2000. Tim Sherwood is known to get the best out of his available resources and the 46-year old manager has certainly revitalized his main striker Christian Benteke.

The Belgian striker is in red-hot form scoring 12 league goals in as many games, which has led his manager to believe that Arsenal must fear Benteke’s presence on the pitch.

Team News

Arsenal

Danny Welbeck is set to miss the final after suffering a knee injury.

Arsenal, however will be ready to welcome back Alex Oxalade-Chamberlin and Mikel Arteta could be available from bench for the club after returning to training earlier this week.

Possible Arsenal line-up to face Aston Villa : Scezeney, Bellerin, Mertasacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott, Giroud

Aston Villa

Aston Villa are ready to welcome Shay Given to their squad after the experienced keeper has shrugged off his long-standing injury scare to be fit for this all-important game.

Aly Cissokho (groin), Kieran Richardson (calf) and Jores Okore (knee) have also trained but Ciaran Clark (knee) is out while Libor Kozak will still be out of the FA Cup final.

Possible Aston Villa line-up to face Arsenal: Guzan, Bacuna, Baker, Vlaar, Richardson, Cleverly, Delph, Westwood, Grealish, N’zogbia, Benteke

Key Battles

Mesut Ozil vs Ashley Westwood

Mesut Ozil has taken a special liking to Aston Villa this season after scoring both home and away against the Villains. If ozil gets the space to work with, he will carve out Villa’s defensive wide open.

Ashley Westwood will have the key responsibility of marking Ozil out of the game and the Aston Villa midfielder has shown on numerous occasions this season that he is fully capable of doing that.

Christian Benteke vs Laurent Koscielny

The in-form striker vs Arssenal’s best defender, perhaps this battle would decide the 2015 FA Cup final. Benteke has been in an inspired form lately scoring goals left, right and center.

If Arsenal want to stop the goal-machine from Aston Villa, Laurent Koscielny will have to be at this dominant best. Benteke will feed on Koscielny and the Frenchman will have to play one of his most vital games since joining Arsenal.

Key Opta stats

Arsenal and Aston Villa have been drawn together in the FA Cup 10 times, with Arsenal winning seven and Aston Villa three.
This is the first time these sides have met in an FA Cup final.
Aston Villa’s last FA Cup win against Arsenal was in the fourth round in 1974, when they drew 1-1 at Highbury before winning the replay 2-0 at Villa Park.
Aston Villa have won only one of the last nine meetings in all competitions. Their only win since May 2011 was 3-1, in the Premier League, at the Emirates Stadium in August 2013.
Only three clubs have lifted the FA Cup on more occasions than Aston Villa, who have won the trophy seven times. Their seven FA Cup wins came between 1887 and 1957.
This is Aston Villa’s first FA Cup final since 2000, when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Wembley.

Prediction

Often in games like these, form goes right out of the window and the better team on the day comes out as the eventual winners.

Aston Villa have got their fighting spirits renewed under Tim Sherwood and Arsenal are hungry for more success after a decade of dry spell without trophies.

Taking a look at all the probable aspects, I expect Aston Villa to topple the Gunners as there seems to be a certainty among arsenal players that they have already won the trophy.

Aston villa have proven this season, how they can beat the big teams and their cup run has helped them survive relegation in the league. Christian Benteke will be playing for his big-money move in the summer and I expect goals from him.

Predicted Scoreline: Arsenal 0 – 1 Aston Villa

Stats Credits: Opta

Image Credits: express, getty