Wenger and Arsenal’s nine year search for a trophy is expected to come to an end today as they meet Hull City in the FA Cup final. Arsenal finished seven points behind champions Manchester City, whilst Hull finished seven points above bottom club Cardiff City. From the final five games of the season arsenal picked up 15 points whilst Hull came away with one following a late collapse from Fulham. The Gunners have won this competition ten times whilst the Tigers are making their first appearance in the final. Arsenal have a reputation as a club that plays sexy football, whilst Hull has a reputation as a rugby city, though thankfully this hasn’t transferred over to the KC Stadium. The contrasts could not be clearer, but this is the FA Cup, where dreams can come true for the underdogs.
Arsenal will not want a repeat of the 2011 League Cup final, when they were expecting to end the trophyless run at what would have been the six year mark but instead threw the game away with a 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City. They are now desperate to get that monkey of their back, and will be throwing themselves into challenges if necessary. Mathieu Flamini does so regardless of the occasion, and the defensive midfielder is always a player noted by the referee as one to keep an eye on. Arsenal picked up two bookings in that 2011 final, and referee Kevin friend booked two players in the only Arsenal game he referee this season. Friend issues an average of over three yellow cards a game, so a couple going Arsenal’s way would be an unremarkable occurrence.
Arsenal have scored twice in their last six meetings with Hull, winning 2-0 and 3-0 this season, as they dominated possession in typical Arsenal style. Arsenal have kept four clean sheets in a row now, their defence going unbreached in 17 league games, whilst Hull failed to find the net in 16 league matches. However Curtis Davis will marshal the Hull defence and ensure they do not get turned over at Wembley.
Arsenal break teams down with patience and flair, leaving them typically to come up with the goods in the second half of games. This is evidenced by the fact that their goal difference in second half of games is +22 whilst their first half goal difference is +5. Therefore we can expect the majority of goals in this game to come in the second half.
