FA Cup : Can Arsenal End Its Seven-Year Trophy Drought?
LONDON, UK – They say that opportunity knocks once, in the case of the Arsenal Gunners, they may not have a better opportunity to end their seven-year trophy drought than now.
Thanks to Liverpool’s 2-1 upset of Manchester United and English Championship side Brighton Albion’s 1-0 upset of Newcastle United in the fourth round, the Gunners have two less obstacles in its path of bringing the Budweiser FA Cup trophy back to North London for the 11th time.
Arsenal would defeat Manchester United, 5-4 on penalty kicks in the 2005 FA Cup Final.
Rival clubs such as Chelsea and Liverpool are still alive, Arsenal would be wise to not overlook it’s current opponent on Sunday at the Emirates in Aston Villa.
The Villains, who have won the FA Cup eight times present the type of fixture that would best be described as a trap game.
While the Gunners may have the overall advantage of playing with superior talent in Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Gervinho and Theirry Henry, Aston Villa is 1-4 in its last five matches at Arsenal.
Arsenal, who currently sit fifth on the English Premier League table with 36 points, is 18 points back of table leader—and 2011 FA Cup champion—Manchester City.
While the Gunners have no real shot at winning the Premiership, Arsenal does have a chance to win it’s first-ever UEFA Champions League trophy, as the Gunners are set to face Serie A side, AC Milan, Feburary 15 at the Emirates.
Aston Villa, is currently 11th on the EPL table, with 27 points are merely hoping to salvage some form of pride in upsetting Arsenal in hopes of bringing home it’s eighth FA Cup trophy back to Birmingham County.
While AVFC does not have the glamour of Arsenal, they do have a gritty combination in forwards Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Bent leads Villa in goals with eight and Agbonlahor leads AVFC in assists with six and shots with 41.
For Arsenal, they must do a better job of defending at the midfield and defensive backs position, as they were exposed by Manchester United’s forwards Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck in their 2-1 defeat last Sunday in London.
If Arsene Wenger’s side can tighten up on defense in these areas, then look for Arsenal to make a deep run in the FA Cup knockout rounds and end it’s seven-year trophy drought.
Follow me on Twitter, @RobertCobb_76
@Arsenal @AVFCOffical @astonvilla @therealfacup @facupnews
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