“The FA Cup means more than finishing second in the Premier League and qualifying for the Champions League.”
That was what former Arsenal star Perry Groves claimed on talkSPORT, as he reflected on Mikel Arteta ending his first season in charge with silverware.
Some might say Arsenal proved that the magic of the FA Cup is not dead as the North London Club extended their all-time record to 14 FA Cup triumphs after they edged past local rivals, Chelsea last season. But the cynics will point out that they too had ulterior motives as they also sealed their spot in next season’s Europa League despite finishing eighth in the table.
For some teams, of course, this campaign will still be dramatic as many high profile players were signed into the Premier League this summer. And Arsenal’s ambitions are on par with the best of the league as they look to add more quality to their rank and challenge for the top once again.
As per the 2020-21 FA Cup insights, Arsenal have been tipped by some bookies to win the FA Cup for a record 15th time this season. The North London club, despite falling behind in their previous campaign, overcame the mighty Man City and Chelsea with the brilliance of their skipper, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
This season got off to a promising start for the Gunners as the collected a 3-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage. The team’s new signings seemed to be getting on well with the rest. Gabriel Magalhaes got on the score sheet and Willian collected two assists.
More importantly, Arsenal are looking like a proper team under the guidance of former City assistant, Mikel Arteta. He has improved the team’s woeful defence and the conversion rate in front of the goal. Also, the certainty of the club captain staying for the next 3 years is a huge positive overall.
Despite a poor past season, Arsenal’s dominance in the FA Cup in recent years has put them in fore-front to retain the Emirates FA Cup once against this campaign.
Manchester City, on the other hand, is still the overwhelming favourite to win the FA Cup after they lost out in the last campaign as they bow out to the eventual winner in semifinal tie against Arsenal. The Cityzen will be looking to dominate the English competition once again after them overwhelming the country on all front in 2018-19 season.
Man City lost out in the FA Cup semifinal against a determined arsenal side, they further succumb the league throne to Liverpool and lost out against in the UEFA Champions League against Olympique Lyonnaise in quarter-final. The Etihad club will be looking to bolster their pedigree once and FA Cup is a channel to start with.
Furthermore, Liverpool will be hoping to make their mark on the oldest football competition this campaign.
Liverpool dominance in the league in last campaign was a testament to beauty but their early loss in the FA Cup was a stain to their beautiful campaign as Chelsea them out of the competition where Adrian goalkeeping howler would make sure that the Reds will not progress beyond quarter-final of the competition.
Although, their loss to Atletico Madrid was again the subject of Adrian howler and their lost to the emerging Aston Villa despite fielding their youthful team while they are away playing the FIFA Club world cup is understandable.
More also, the reds will be looking to extend their dominance in the oldest cup competition this campaign as they would be hoping to extend their FA Cup triumph to 8 win
Man United is the second most successful club in FA Cup history. The Red Devil had have their fair share of the cup on 12 occasions. After much disappointing early campaign, last season and the three consecutive semifinal defeat in all cup competition Man United found themselves last season.
The old Trafford club will be looking to reaffirm their mark on the competition they last won in 2016. Since the signing of Bruno Fernandes, Man United looks a top team once and their Top Four finish in last campaign would certainly boast their morale coming into this season.
But the prospect of winning the league this campaign might be a mountain task for the Old Trafford club, however raising the status of the team to silverware winner once again will definitely start with the FA Cup triumph for United.
The addition of Donny Van Der Baek and the possibly signing of Jadon Sancho could give necessary firepower to defeat their rivals and add enough rotation policies to ensure that the players have enough rest needed to win a silverware in this campaign.
Chelsea on the other hand have had a share of their success since Roman Abrahamovic taken over the club in 2003, the West London Club had won the FA Cup five times since the Russian taken over the club and the addition of super talents to the squad this campaign will up their chance of winning the oldest competition this year. Chelsea miss out in the final against Arsenal despite having a lukewarm season after they lost their talisman to Real Madrid and rocked with their inability to sign player last campaign.
The Stamford Bridge Club have make up for their lack of signing in their previous campaign by signing Timo Werner, Kai Hervartz, Hakim Ziyech, and Thiago Silva. Although Mendy is looking to be their top goalkeeping choice as Kepa seemed to keep losing his grip on daily basis.
Chelsea will be looking to escape criticism this campaign with silverware. Manchester City and Liverpool are not looking to slow down in their quest to be the champion of the English Premier League once again this season, but Chelsea will be realistically looking at FA Cup this season despite their final lost in August.
Lastly, Arsenal have shown that they can go toe-to-toe with any team since the appointment of Mikel Arteta, defeating Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea last term. This campaign will be a dramatic one as all clubs will be looking to lay their hand on the prestigious cup this season. The chances of Arsenal winning the competition once again this year will be slim but if the club from North London can do it last term, they can definitely do it again.
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