FA Cup Final Betting – Arsenal vs. Aston Villa

Arsenal (-200) vs. Aston Villa (+550)

Arsenal were mired in a nine-year championship drought before winning the FA Cup last season. Now Arsene Wenger’s crew will look to make it two cups in as many years as they face Aston Villa on Saturday at Wembley Stadium (12:30 PM Eastern).

Arsenal come in as the betting favorites, and deservingly so, after playing some of their best soccer of the season over the past few weeks. Since early March, the Gunners have an impressive 11-3-1 record and most recently crushed West Brom 4-1, with speedy striker Theo Walcott netting three goals.

Wenger praises the duo of Walcott and Jack Wilshare after the impressive win.

“Jack did very well. He has some very good movement, some very good accelerations and the same with Theo. He looked sharp in this game, and that is good news [for the FA Cup],” Wenger said to ESPN FC.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, come in having lost three of their last four games (all competition), including a 1-0 loss to Burnley and a 6-1 rout at the hands of Southampton.  The Villains finished the EPL season just three points away from the relegation zone. But a win on Saturday would turn an otherwise forgettable season into a memorable campaign, as it would earn Aston Villa the right to represent England in the 2015-16 Europa League.

For Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood, though, the season can already be classified as a success regardless of what happens in the FA Cup final.

“It’s job done as far as I’m concerned,” said Sherwood to ESPN FC. “They brought me into the club to win Premier League survival and we did that. The team had won five games in 25 before I came in. We needed to match that to stay in the division, and we’ve managed to do that.”

Aston Villa and Arsenal met twice during the EPL season with Arsenal picking up two easy wins (5-0 at the Emirates and 3-0 at Villa Park). Since 1999, the Villains have beaten the Gunners just twice and Arsenal have won nine of the last ten meetings in the series.

Arsenal are currently -1 favorites in the handicap and -121 favorites in the moneyline. Considering the way the teams have played lately, Arsenal looks like a steal.

They have the momentum and the superior roster.

Pick: Arsenal (-121).

(Photo credit: Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom (Mesut Özil  Uploaded by Dudek1337) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)