KEY POINTS

  • Cech and Ospina have both played during Arsenal's run to the FA Cup final.
  • Wenger has just two fit centre-backs going into the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

Arsene Wenger has revealed that he has a double dilemma in terms of squad selection for Arsenal's FA Cup final clash against Chelsea on Saturday (27 May).

Petr Cech and David Ospina have both played during the run to the summit clash in the FA Cup and generally in the last few seasons, it has been the second-choice goalkeeper who has got the nod. But this time around Wenger has hinted that the Czech Republic stopper, who has been the first choice in the Premier League, could start ahead of his Colombian counterpart, despite the latter being preferred in cup competitions this campaign.

Ospina played in the third, fourth and fifth rounds of the competition, but Cech has taken the place in between the sticks for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The latter has been in splendid form in recent weeks as Arsenal went on a five match winning run in the league and that could play a role in the manager's decision making for the final.

"That is not decided," Wenger said during his pre-match press conference, as quoted by the London Evening Standard.

"In the semi-final, Cech played. It is possible [he will start the Final]. We will see."

Wenger's biggest problem, however, is in defence, where the club are facing a crisis ahead of the game against the Blues. Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista are ruled out through suspension and injury respectively, while Shkodran Mustafi is rated as a major doubt owing to illness.

The French coach has just two fit-centre backs at the moment in Rob Holding, who has only started playing regularly since Wenger shifted to his new 3-4-2-1 formation midway through April and Per Mertesacker, who made his first appearance of the season in the final game of the campaign against Everton on Sunday (21 May).

The Gunners' boss is unsure if he will risk the German, who has not played the full 90 minutes of a game for over a year and is also not used to the new three man defence that has been deployed. Wenger admitted that his team selection at the back will depend on the system he will use on Saturday.

Petr Cech
Arsene Wenger is yet to decide between Petr Cech and David Ospina for the FA Cup final against Chelsea Getty

"I don't know as he [Mertesacker] has not played 90 minutes for a long time. And if I start him, of course, I have to make that decision until Saturday and I have not made up my mind yet.

"He has the leadership qualities. So it depends a little bit on the system I will go for, the system I will choose," Wenger added.