The Villans were mediocre at best for most of the campaign but Tim Sherwood's arrivals has reignited their season and Aston Villa will now be aiming to win the FA Cup for the first time since 1957. Villa are currently not ranked among the top clubs in the country but do have a rich history.
The Clarets have the fifth highest number of major honors won by a club in England which includes seven FA Cup titles. They will be entering the final of the competition as the underdogs but will not be short on confidence given what is at stake. Here are five ways Villa can pull of a major upset and win the FA Cup.
Park the bus
Aston Villa's biggest mistake would be to allow Arsenal to play their free flowing attacking game. The Gunners can be impossible to keep quiet once they get in their groove and it is for this reason that Aston Villa must make use of a defensive strategy.
The tactic is one which tends to work well against Arsenal who are often left helpless against teams which defend deep. Both Sunderland and Swansea adopted similar tactics and attained positive results. Aston Villa should take note of this and make use of a similar approach against Arsene Wenger's team.
Play on counter
The Gunners are susceptible to teams breaking swiftly on counters and with the likes of Benteke, N'Zogbia and Delph in the side the Villans can definitely punish Arsenal on the break.
Aston Villa will thus benefit themselves by inviting pressure and defending deep which will result in the full backs pushing forward. Once they retain possession it is vital that Aston Villa make full use of the opportunity and punish Arsenal.
Exploit Szczesny
Arsene Wenger is likely to continue his policy of retaining his second choice goalkeeper for FA Cup matches and it is something which can bode well for Aston Villa. Szczesny has been demoted to the bench for a reason and has done nothing since losing his spot to David Ospina to regain Wenger's trust.
The Polish international's performances have been riddled with mistakes and eccentricities which tend to benefit the opposition. Aston Villa must do everything they can to exploit this weakness and must pressurize the young goalkeeper who is already under a lot of stress.
Make good use of set pieces
Arsenal are a team who enjoy keeping the ball to themselves and it is inevitable that Aston Villa will not be able to enjoy much possession in the game. They must thus make it a point that they make the maximum of every opportunity they get and this is why they need to be more efficient in dead ball situations.
Hull City were able to hurt Arsenal in the FA Cup final last season in that regard and with the personnel Aston Villa have they are capable of doing the same.
Defensive improvements needed
Villa will come to this match at the back of two disappointing outings, one against Southampton and the other against Burnley, both of which ended in defeats for the FA Cup finalists. Their performance against the Saints in particular was not up to the mark with the Villans conceding six in the game.
A repeat of such a defensive display will deprive them of having any chance to win silverware this season and with the attacking talent Arsenal have at their expense, the Gunners can make Aston Villa suffer if there are to be any defensive lapses.
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