• Arsenal out to make history

• Villans seek to end 58-year wait

Aston Villa were relieved to have preserved their status in the English Premier League for another year but this evening (kick-off: 18.30) they have a good chance to wrap up their season in style if they break a 58-year drought and beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

If Villa lift the silverware today they will play in the Europa League next season.

Although the Gunners had the cream of managers in their history, none of them had steered the club to five FA Cup honours, let alone the double feats of 1997-98 and 2001-02 attained under Arsene Wenger.

So, the Frenchman, who has been at the Arsenal helm since October 12, 1996, could lead Arsenal to an unprecedented sixth FA Cup success for a manager. Arsenal also won the double in 1971-72 when Bertie Mee was boss.

Villa will be led out of the tunnel by Tim Sherwood, the former Watford, Norwich, Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham, Portsmouth and Coventry player.

His managerial career took off at Spurs only last season, replacing Andre Villas-Boas for just a year before being replaced by Mauricio Pochettino.

Sherwood began his coaching career at White Hart Lane, progressing from assistant first team coach to manager in a spell of five years.

In December 2014, he took over from Paul Lambert at Aston Villa and steered the Villans to safer waters in the league and the FA Cup final for the first time since 2000.

This competition has become famous for monumental upsets that occur almost every single year.

In the 2014 final, Arsenal struggled to beat underdogs Hull City 3-2 in extra time after the Tigers had opened a 2-0 lead.

Both Aston Villa and Arsenal are steeped in FA Cup folk.

The Gunners head the all-time winners’ list along with Manchester United on 11 honours apiece, and Villa are in fourth place overall with seven successes.

Arsenal lost seven finals and the Villans were losing finalists on three occasions. Aston Villa have a thirst for achievement, having last lifted the FA Cup in 1957.

Arsenal’s FA Cup wins came as follows:

(1930) Huddersfield 2-0; (1936) Sheffield United 1-0; (1950) Liverpool 2-0; (1971) Liverpool 2-1; (1979) Manchester United 3-2; (1993) Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, after 1-1 draw; (1998) Newcastle United 2-0; (2002) Chelsea 2-0; (2003) Southampton 1-0; (2005) Manchester United 5-4 on penalties; and (2014) Hull 3-2.

The Villans’ triumphs were attained thus:

(1887) West Brom 2-0; (1895) West Brom 1-0; (1897) Everton 3-2; (1905) Newcastle 2-0; (1913) Sunderland 1-0; (1920) Huddersfield 1-0; and (1957) Manchester United 2-1.

Head-to-head

In the Premiership this season, Arsenal won at Villa Park 3-0 (Ozil, Welbeck, Cissoko og).

The Londoners then trounced Villa 5-0 at home (Giroud, Ozil, Walcott, Belerin, Cazorla pen) to do the double on the Midlanders.

In past FA Cup clashes, these two teams met on 10 occasions. Arsenal hold the upperhand with seven wins.

2012 (4th round): Arsenal-Villa 3-2
1983 (6th round): Arsenal-Villa 2-0
1974 (4th round): Villa-Arsenal 2-0
1956 (4th round): Arsenal-Villa 4-1
1954 (3rd round): Arsenal-Villa 5-1
1934 (6th round): Arsenal-Villa 1-2
1931 (3rd round): Villa-Arsenal 1-3
1929 (6th round): Villa-Arsenal 1-0
1928 (5th round): Arsenal-Villa 4-1
1926 (5th round): Arsenal-Villa 2-0

Way to Wembley

Arsenal

Third round − 2-0 vs Hull (home) Mertesacker, Sanchez.

Fourth round − 3-2 vs Brighton (away) Walcott, Ozil, Rosicky.

Fifth round − 2-0 vs Middlesbrough (home) Giroud 2.

Quarter-final − 2-1 vs Manchester United (away) Monreal, Welbeck.

Semi-final − 2-1 vs Reading aet (Wembley Stadium) Sanchez 2.

Aston Villa

Third Round − 1-0 vs Blackpool (home) Benteke.

Fourth round − 2-1 vs Bourne-mouth (home) Gil, Weinmann.

Fifth round − 2-1 vs Leicester (home) Bacuna, Sinclair.

Quarter-final − 2-0 vs West Brom (home) Delph, Sinclair.

Semi-final − Liverpool 2-1 (Wembley Stadium) Benteke, Delph.

Note: Aston Villa were drawn at home in every round. Today they play in their claret and blue home strip while Arsenal don the yellow and blue away outfit.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.