Date: 1st August 2020 at 7:54am
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Arsenal take on Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in an all-London 139th FA Cup final. 

In what has been an unusual season due to the break caused by Covid-19, the match presents a chance for either Mikel Arteta or Frank Lampard to win a trophy in their early managerial days.

Arteta – a two-time winner as a player with Arsenal – only took over the Gunners in December and, as shown in the impressive 2-0 victory against Manchester City in the semi-finals, has slowly improved the side over that time.

Arteta is making progress at Arsenal.

In the blue corner, Lampard – a four-time FA Cup winner – took over the club he has legendary status as a player last summer and has built a young, exciting squad which includes a number of homegrown players.

The Stamford Bridge outfit swept aside Manchester United 3-1 in the last-four and will be confident of winning the trophy they won two years ago for a ninth time.

However, they take on an Arsenal side who have lifted the trophy a record 13 times – the last coming in a 2-1 victory against Chelsea in 2017.

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has brought a young, fresh look to his old club.

In the Premier League, Chelsea won 2-1 at the Emirates while the game at Stamford Bridge finished in a 2-2 draw.

These results contributed to the Blues securing a fourth placed finish and Champions League qualification, while Arsenal, after finishing eighth, will have to win the final to even secure Europa League football next term.

Two players who could have a big part in deciding whereabouts in London the trophy will end up on Saturday evening are Nicolas Pepe and Christian Pulisic.

Pepe, who was signed for a club-record £72million last summer, has shown glimpses of quality but improvement will be expected come next season.

Despite blowing hot and cold, Lampard will know that the Ivory Coast international’s pace is a threat, especially to a backline which conceded 54 times in 38 league matches.

On the left-flank for Chelsea, Pulisic has really started to show his class since the restart after taking time to find his feet following his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2019.

The American has been in dazzling form of late and Arteta will know his team will have to put in the same kind of defensive display they did against Man City if they are to keep him at bay.

So which tricky winger will come out on top for their team at Wembley? Here’s how these two strikers have performed in the 2019/20 season…

Nicolas Pepe

 

2019/20

 

Christian Pulisic

 

41

Games: 32
8 Goals: 10
8 Assists:

5

1.2

Key passes per game: 1.3

1.6

Shots per game: 2.4
2.4 Dribbles per game:

2.4

1.2 Fouled per game: 

1.2

81.6% Pass accuracy:

79.4%

*Statistics via WhoScored

 
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