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The English domestic season comes down to one final outing at Wembley as Arsenal and Hull City prepare to collide in the FA Cup final.
The match has gone somewhat under the radar due to a thrilling climax in the Premier League, but with Manchester City’s celebrations now a distant memory, the FA Cup takes centre-stage on Saturday 17 May.
For Arsene Wenger, it represents a chance to finally end the much-publicised trophy drought, while for Hull and Steve Bruce, victory would cap a tremendous campaign that has already seen them qualify for the Europe League next season due to their guarantee of finishing as runners-up at worst.
With a World Cup on the horizon, the FA Cup final will be one last chance for domestic glory before attentions turn to Brazil, and nobody will want to go into the summer off the back of a Cup final defeat.
So what are the man talking points of the 2014 FA Cup final?
Click on the gallery below to find out. Show all 10 1 /10FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Arsene Wenger’s job depends on it Secure a top four finish and win the FA Cup for the first time in nine years would be a good (and more importantly improved) return for Arsene Wenger. See your Premier League title challenge fade away and lose to Hull in the final sounds like a catastrophic collapse, and with Wenger yet to sign a new contract beyond this season, he would find it hard to justify to himself that he is still taking this team forward.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull This trophy drought is starting to mount up Nine years is a long time for a club like Arsenal to go without any trophy success whatsoever, but 10 years sounds a whole lot worse. Having shown glimpses this season that they can compete with the biggest teams in England, Arsenal will be determined to back that up with a trophy of their own. And after all, Manchester City won the FA Cup before going on to win the Premier League the following year.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Arsenal don’t enjoy trips to new Wembley Arsenal’s record at the redeveloped Wembley Stadium makes grim reading. Having progressed to the 2007 League Cup final, they lost 2-1 to London rivals Chelsea, and lost by the same score in the 2011 League Cup final - this–time to soon-to-be-relegated Birmingham City. Chelsea also knocked them out of the 2009 FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley. Last month’s FA Cup semi-final against Hull nearly ended the same way when the Latics took the lead through a Jordi Gomez penalty in the second half, but Per Mertesacker salvaged a draw and the Gunners managed to edge past the defending champions via a penalty shootout.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Hull are missing the two players that changed their season Hull rocketed up the Premier League table after a successful January transfer window that saw them land strike-duo Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic. The pair have scored four goals apiece, but they will not be taking to the hallowed Wembley turf due to being cup-tied for the competition. In their absence, Yannick Sagbo will be tasked with troubling Wojciech Szczesny, although he has scored the same number of goals across the whole season.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Ramsey is back – and picked up where he left off When Aaron Ramsey struck his sweetly timed volley into the back of the net in the 2-0 victory over Norwich last weekend, it was as if he had never been a way. The problem for Arsenal is that he has been away, and for quite some time too. The midfielder was one of the players of the season up until he injured his thigh on Boxing Day last year, going on to miss over three months of action as Arsenal saw their Premier League and Champions League campaigns collapse. Thankfully for them, he looks just as sharp ahead of the Cup final.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Last chance for Wilshere and Ozil to impress before World Cup Two players who are in danger of being left out of their respective nations starting XI’s when the World Cup gets underway. Wilshere’s quest to partner Steven Gerrard in England’s midfield was hit when he suffered a fractured foot in the international friendly against Denmark in March. The 22-year-old returned for the match against Norwich last weekend, albeit from the bench, while Özil has seen compatriots Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Toni Kroos impress back in Germany this season.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Hull could join the plucky underdogs club Wigan were given no chance against Manchester City last season, but Ben Watson’s name will go down in FA Cup folklore as the moment that the plucky Latics masterminded the downfall of the Middle East. Alright, maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as bringing down an entire region, but the result was a huge shock nonetheless, and a Hull victory on Saturday would be as equally as stunning.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull History doesn’t favour an English manager The last English manager to win the FA Cup wasn’t actually that long ago, with Harry Redknapp leading his Portsmouth side to glory in the 2008 Cup final. However, over the past 20 years, only one other English manager has lifted the famous trophy, as Everton defeated Manchester United in 1995 to give Joe Royle and his side a famous Wembley victory.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull One club is going to have a quiet Sunday Both clubs have announced plans for a Sunday celebratory bus parade should they win the Cup, with pictures emerging on social media this week that Arsenal have already painted their bus with the wording “2014 FA Cup Champions” across it as well as putting up signs in the Islington area warning of a possible ‘delay’. Hull will also soak up the adulation of their fans, with a route planned that incorporates everything from the KC Stadium to the city centre. But one set of fans will wake up on Sunday knowing that there will be no parade, celebrations or fanfare. And to make it worse, you can guarantee the winners’ parade will be on TV.
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FA Cup final 2014: 10 talking points for Arsenal v Hull Hull fans are dreading extra-time and penalties As if the nerves of an extra half-hour of football and a dreaded penalty shootout weren’t bad enough, Hull fans face the prospect of missing the final train back to the north of England if they hang around celebrating too long. With normal time and post-match celebrations set to take proceedings at Wembley well beyond 7pm, Tigers’ fans will need to get a shift on to get back to Kings Cross station to catch their transport home. But extra-time and penalties would see the match run on for at least another 40 minutes, meaning the race would be on to catch the final train departing at 9.35pm. Otherwise it’s a going to be a long old night.
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Who do you think will win the 2014 FA Cup final? Leave your predictions in the comments box below.
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