Arsenal finally have a chance to end their six-year trophy drought and there is no doubt the Gunners will be very motivated to win this game. Birmingham, on the other hand, have absolutely nothing to lose as this is a already big achievement for Brum, but one thing’s for sure, the Blues will not go down without a fight.

Can Arsenal end the trophy drought?

After five pretty disappointing seasons, Arsenal fans finally have something to cheer about with the Gunners doing well on all fronts this term. Arsene Wenger’s side are the only team left in the title race besides Manchester United, whereas their impressive victory over Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 stage proved Gunners are ready to fight for honours. While Arsenal are still in the race for all four trophies, they are unlikely to get a better chance than this to finally lift a major trophy, with struggling Birmingham a team they simply have to beat. The Gunners are playing really well at the moment, as witnessed by 9 wins in last 11 games and despite minor selection worries, they should be able to continue the great scoring run against Birmingham.

Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott have been ruled out after picking up injuries in midweek’s game against Stoke, but Robin van Persie, Abou Diaby and Laurent Koscielny should be fit to play. Fabianski, Vermaelen and Frimpong remain in the infirmary.

Match of a lifetime for Birmingham

It is really interesting how this season is turning out for Birmingham as the Blues seem unable to repeat the impressive performances from last season, but they still managed to reach the Carling Cup final. Brum are still in the dangerous zone in the Premiership and they will be in for a difficult survival fight after losing at home to Newcastle, but their showings in the domestic Cups have been nothing short of impressive. On top of their outstanding run in the Carling Cup, Alex McLeish’s side also made it to the FA Cup quarter-finals, although they were very lucky to only face lower division sides in the previous rounds. The Arsenal game is the one where the Blues need to show they can rise to the occasion, although having already lost twice to Gunners this season, they can hardly be expected to fare any better at Wembley.

Alexander Hleb, Cameron Jerome, Martin Jiranek and Liam Ridgewell are all injury doubts, while David Bentley, Curtis Davies and Colin Doyle are cup-tied. James McFadden and Scott Dann are long-term casualties.

Verdict

Considering the way Arsenal have been playing of late, I see the Gunners are hot favourites here, although odds of 1.57 (4/7) offered on home win are nothing special. With Arsene Wenger’s side scoring goals for fun, my advice is to back Arsenal to score two goals or more.

Our prediction: Arsenal to score over 1.5 goals

Odds: 1.67 (2/3)

Bookmaker: Bet365