As Arsenal and Aston Villa prepare to finish the season in England with this weekend’s FA Cup final, here’s a look at our pick of the five players who will surely decide the outcome of the game at Wembley…
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Arsenal rumours
1) Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Arsenal’s best player this season and a world class forward who can change a game in an instant, Alexis Sanchez decided the FA Cup semi-final with a brace against Reading, and he will surely be one of the names the Gunners look to on Saturday. The Chilean international seems to relish the big games and has supposedly been training extra hard for this one.
2) Christian Benteke (Aston Villa)
A potentially world class striker who can really do some damage to Arsenal, Christian Benteke will need to have a good game for Aston Villa this weekend if there is any hope for the club to cause a big upset at Wembley.
3) Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
A player with pace and an eye for goal, it is not even clear if Theo Walcott has done enough to earn a start in this game, but it seems clear that, whether from the bench or not, the 26-year-old could be hugely important for Arsenal in terms of giving them an attacking outlet against a defensive-minded team.
4) Fabian Delph (Aston Villa)
One of the best players and Villa’s matchwinner when they saw off Liverpool in the semi-final, Fabian Delph is another of Tim Sherwood’s players who will desperately need to have a big game against Arsenal. The England international will have the rough job of coping with attacking midfielders like Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil, but has shown this season that he has the quality to do that and to make a difference in the big games.
5) Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)
At his best, a powerful centre forward who can score from a variety of positions; at his worst, a slow and clumsy flop who can miss glaring chances. Whichever Olivier Giroud shows up for Arsenal against Villa this Saturday could prove to be the determining factor in whether or not the Gunners can lift the FA Cup for the second season in a row.