In a minor surprise, Arsene Wenger has opted to stick Theo Walcott into his FA Cup final lineup, while Olivier Giroud has been dropped. It’s not clear if Walcott or Alexis Sanchez is going to play as the center forward for the Gunners, as the rest of the midfield and attack has remained intact.
Theo Walcott gets the nod for Arsenal, no big surprises for Aston Villa
Arsene Wenger’s playing the hot hand.
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There are no big shocks for Aston Villa, just that some players who were fighting off minor injuries were selected. All of Shay Given, Jores Okore and Kieran Richardson have overcome knocks to make Tim Sherwood’s starting XI. Charles N’Zogbia is preferred to Gabriel Agbonlahor, while Ashley Westwood got the nod over Carlos Sanchez.
Arsenal starting lineup (4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny; Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey; Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott
Aston Villa starting lineup (4-3-3): Shay Given; Alan Hutton, Ron Vlaar, Jores Okore, Keiran Richardson; Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph, Tom Cleverley; Jack Grealish, Christian Benteke, Charles N'Zogbia
Kickoff is just after 12 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. local time from Wembley Stadium in London. You can catch the game on FOX’s main network station in the U.S., BBC One or BT Sport 1 in the U.K., or Sportsnet One in Canada.
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