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The pressure will be on Arsenal and Arsene Wenger on Saturday as The Gunners take on Hull City in this year's installment of the FA Cup Final.
Arsenal are heavy favorites coming into the match, but the FA Cup and Arsenal aren't strangers to upsets on this stage. Last year, Wigan Athletic (who was relegated from the Premier League) beat heavily favored Manchester City 1-0, earning them their first ever FA Cup Title.
Steve Bruce's side barely locked up a spot in next year's EPL, finishing 16th in their debut year - but that along with a spot in the Europa League bodes as a success for the Tigers. Bruce, who won the FA Cup three times as a player with Manchester United, said it has been hard to maintain normalcy leading up to the big match.
“We’ve tried to keep it normal, but you can tell it’s not normal," said Bruce. "You can tell from watching the players train that it’s not a normal week. For the first time in three or four weeks, there is a real spring in the step of the players. You can detect that and it will build as the week goes on, and so it should.”
Hull City only has one victory in their last six matches, so it’s a relief to Hull fans that their team is ready to go. The road to the final wasn't a difficult one for the Tigers, as they went unbeaten (5-0-1) playing against only one upperdivision team in Sunderland.
Arsenal, on the other hand, comes into the match in opposite form to Hull. They finished the season with five straight wins and are undefeated in FA Cup play (4-0-1) beating the likes of defending champion Wigan Athletic, along with Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool.
The pressure to raise their first trophy in nine years hasn’t gotten to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
"No matter what the result will be, this club - and this is always most important - can deal with the consequences of any game," he said. "What is important is that we come out of the game and have the feeling that we gave absolutely our best, our total energy to play at our best and then you always accept the consequences.”
An upset wouldn’t be foreign to Wenger and his club, who suffered an FA Cup final upset in 2011, losing 2-1 to eventually relegated Birmingham City.
Wenger is not expected to have Jack Wilshere in the lineup due to a foot injury, but has said he has no problem playing the likely departing Bacary Sagna. One area in question for the final XI for Arsenal is who will be in goal. Lukas Fabianski has played in every cup game for the Gunners, while Wojciech Szczesny has ended the league season with the "Premier League Golden Gloves" following 16 clean sheets.
It is unknown if Wojciech Szczesny or Lukas Fabianski will be in net for the Gunners. (Photo: @vifiie | Twitter)
Hull City will be without goal scorers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic due to being cup-tied, but key players such as Allan McGregor, Paul Mcshance and Sone Aluko should all be involved.
In the 56th minute, both teams' supporters will hold an applause to pay respects to the 56 people who lost their lives in the Valley Parade fire. This is the 29th anniversary of the disaster that occurred in the main stand as Bradford City played Lincoln City, and former Bradford City player John Hawley said, “I think it is fantastic for both sets of supporters to honor the memory of the 56 fans at The FA Cup Final.”
The game kicks off at 12PM E.T. and will be televised on FOX.
