FA Cup Final: All in the A’s

So when it came down to it all… all we had to do to get our FA Cup final was pick the first two teams alphabetically in the Premier League.

The final, taking place this weekend pits Aston Villa – who managed to hang on to their Premier League status this season – against 3rd placed (and current FA Cup holders) Arsenal. It seems inevitable as to who should win this one, but as we’ve seen even just 2 years ago with Wigan and Manchester City, it can be anything but easy.

For the defending champions, their FA Cup started off with a 2-0 all-Premier League victory over the now relegated Hull City. From there, it was all Championship opposition (with the exception of Manchester United) to the final, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2, Middlesbrough 2-0, the aforementioned Man Utd. 2-1 and Reading 2-1 (with a rather lucky Extra Time goal following a fumble by Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici).

Arsenal could not only become the first team since Chelsea in 2008/9 & 2009/10 to defend the trophy successfully, but should they do so they’ll be one clear of Manchester United as the most successful team in FA Cup history by winning their 12th cup.

The new Wembley Stadium holds its 9th FA Cup Final this Saturday.

For Aston Villa, they’ve made their first FA Cup final since losing to Chelsea in the 1999/2000 game. Their trip to the final has contained one more game than Arsenal against top tier opposition. Like Arsenal however, Villa’s opening match was a win against now relegated opponents from the Championship, Blackpool 1-0. Following on, they beat newly promoted (to the Premier League) Bournemouth 2-1, Leicester City also 2-1, West Bromwich Albion 2-0 and Liverpool in the semi-final 2-1.

The Villans are going for their 8th FA Cup trophy, which would put them one ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool, but history is against them – they haven’t won since 1957, and going up against Arsenal who are looking to defend their crown will be difficult.

Either way, the FA Cup can already engrave “A” for this year – but will it follow up with “rsenal”, or “ston Villa”?

Ashley Redman
His name also starts with “A”