Villa looks to stop Arsenal’s FA Cup repeat

The Premier League may be the most lucrative prize in domestic football, but the glory of walking up the Wembley steps and hoisting the FA Cup to the heavens is still quite special.

Two clubs at opposite ends of the Premier League table will lineup on the Wembley pitch for Saturday’s FA Cup final, as Aston Villa attempts to end a 58 year Cup drought and deny reigning cup holders Arsenal a second piece of silverware in as many years.

Here is how the two teams match up.

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Goalkeeper

If you go by sheer numbers, the Gunners clearly have the advantage. Aston Villa conceded 21 more goals than Arsenal during the season, though Brad Guzan made more saves (101 in 34 starts) than Wojciech Szczesny (45 in 17 starts) and David Ospina (47 in 18 starts) combined. The American keeper’s goalmouth was constantly under threat throughout the season, as Guzan was influential in helping Villa avoid relegation. However, Villa’s number one will be on the bench on Saturday. Shay Given has recovered from a groin injury and will participate in his third FA Cup final—the 39 year-old lost at Wembley with Newcastle United in 1998 and 1999. The Irishman won with Manchester City in 2011, but was second choice and on the bench. Given has played every minute in the FA Cup for Villa.

Edge: Arsenal

Defence

Despite the relentless criticism directed at Arsene Wenger at the beginning of the season for failing to strengthen his already thin defensive options, compounded with the never ending cycle of injuries—Mathieu Debuchy being the most significant—the Gunners ended the campaign with the third-best defensive record in the Premier League. Villa were dreadfully poor at the back-end and completely disorganized. It was the Gunners who set off Villa’s downward spiral after a bright start (three wins and one draw)—a 3-0 defeat at Villa Park in late September was followed by another five losses and three draws before Villa secured a victory in early December. It didn’t help that Ron Vlaar missed half the season.

Edge: Arsenal

Midfield

The merry-go-round of injuries continued in the Gunners midfield, with Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all missing significant chunks of the season. Santi Carzola was burdened with the majority of the responsibility and was by far Arsenal’s best player down the middle (14 assist and eight goals in 52 total appearances). Mesut Ozil was mediocre at best in his sophomore year at the Emirates (five goals and eight assists in 30 total appearances), having missed almost three months through injury. Luckily for Wenger he unearthed a diamond in the rough, with Francis Coquelin finally breaking into the first-team—after spending the better-part of his Arsenal career on loan. Only youngster Jack Grealish is worthy of mention for Aston Villa, as the 19 year-old made the most of his opportunities following the sacking of Paul Lambert in February. Tom Cleverley, Fabian Delph and Joe Cole preformed well-below standard—basically there was a black hole in Villa’s midfield all season long.

Edge: Arsenal

Forwards

The combination of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud combined for 30 league goals this season and tore opposing defensive lines to shreds. To get a better idea as to the massive gap between the two teams, Aston Villa scored 31 goals total in the Premier League this season. Christian Benteke scored 13 of his side’s goals—having missed the first two months through injury—the Belgian striker netted 11 times since the arrival of Tim Sherwood in February (13 matches). He is currently in prolific form, though, it’s simply a numbers game, and Arsenal has more options at their disposal in attack. We’ve seen it before: Benteke gets double-marked and Villa’s offence is effectively stifled. Someone must step up to ease the pressure on Benteke’s shoulders to score; opponents focus solely on the big Belgian up front. Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann have tallied a paltry nine league goals combined. Villa failed to score in 18 of their 38 league matches

Edge: Arsenal

Intangibles

Arsene Wenger is on the brink of making history should Arsenal win at Wembley on Saturday. Wenger would surpass Sir Alex Ferguson with the most FA Cup winners’ medals in the modern era. After a decade without silverware, the Gunners could once again save face with their supporters with successive FA Cup triumphs. Say what you want, but the only reason Wenger kept his job last year was because of the victory at Wembley. Tim Sherwood was the perfect choice to save Villa from relegation, his focus on youth was the driving force behind the club’s survival—albeit only by two points. Similar to his work in reviving Emmanuel Adebayor’s scoring rate at Tottenham, Sherwood did the same with Christian Benteke at Villa Park—without the Belgian’s goals the club would surely have been relegated. Getting this team to a Wembley final is a near miracle; winning would make him a Villa legend.

Edge: Aston Villa