Sports Blog 29/05/2015: FA Cup Final Preview – Arsenal vs Aston Villa, Saturday 30th May 2015

The true end to the English footballing season is upon us, as current holders Arsenal take on relegation near-missers Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final on Saturday at 5.30pm on BBC One.

Both sides had a fairly easy route to the final. Arsenal breezed past last year’s beaten finalists Hull in the 3rd round before dispatching of Brighton and Middlesbrough in the following 2 fixtures. Their one true challenge came in the quarter final, as the Gunners overcame their normally dismal form at Old Trafford to knock out Manchester United; a semi-final win over Reading was complicated by Arsenal’s usual jitters, but an extra time strike from star signing Sanchez saw them reach the final, and an FA Cup Index spread of 92.5-94.



The Gunners will break the record for FA Cup finals on Saturday, after equalling Manchester United’s 18 appearances last season. On top of this, a victory at the weekend would see Arsenal leapfrog their record 11 cup wins, something they share with United; an added sweetener to the potential piece of silverware. They are going into the final as odds on favourites at 2/5, and have already only lost only 1 game their last 15, with 3 draws and 11 wins. More importantly they have already scored 8 goals against Aston Villa in the league this season, without conceding a single one.

Aston Villa had a similarly straight forward, if slightly tougher, road to Saturday’s game. Villa left it late to beat League One’s Blackpool in the 3rd round, but performed better against the soon-to-be Premier League Bournemouth side. Fellow relegation escapees Leicester were dispatched with in the 5th round before a landmark quarter final win over rivals West Brom saw a crowd invasion and a place in the semis. Villa then went on to a surprise victory over an unravelling Liverpool side, reaching their first final since 2000 in the process and leading them to an FA Cup Index spread of 76-77.5.



Whilst Arsenal finished in 3rd, Aston Villa narrowly avoided relegation following a turnaround by Tim Sherwood, eventually sitting in 17th just 3 points ahead of the now-relegated Hull City. Villa hardly had a glittering to the end of the season, losing 6-1 to Southampton in their penultimate game before limping to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the long-ago relegated Burnley. However a victory in the final, and their first successful FA Cup run since 1957, would go some way to easing Villa’s a tension-filled 2014/15 season.

Arsenal have a flurry of players who will want to top up their tallies before the season finally comes to an end. Alexis Sanchez has scored 24 goals this season so far, and was just voted PFA Fans Player of the Year; the Chilean is at a Super Mega Player Goal Minutes spread of 29-35 and at 9/2 fixed odds to score first. Despite not scoring since the start of April, Olivier Giroud has 18 goals and is on a Super Mega PGM spread of 34-40 with fixed odds of 17/4; Theo Walcott, on the other hand, got 6 goals this season, 3 of which came against West Brom last Sunday, and has a Super Mega PGM spread of 32-38. Aston Villa, meanwhile, only really have Christian Benteke, who got 15 goals this season and is at a Super Mega PGM spread of 26-31 with fixed odds of 11/2.

Its remarkable that in a season of such strife for Villa they managed to get to an FA Cup final; but whilst the cup is notorious for an upset or two, Tim Sherwood’s side might have to settle for a silver medal, with the Gunners at a comfortable Arsenal/Aston Villa Goal Supremacy sports spread betting quote of 1.05-1.25 with a Total Goals spread of 2.75-2.95.