Chelsea 'sure to lift the cup'

Chelsea should end the match as confident victors

Former Liverpool and Scotland star Alan Hansen says Chelsea should prove too much for Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday.

Chelsea go into the FA Cup final with Aston Villa as firm favourites, and after watching the way they pulverised Manchester United this season and annihilated Liverpool a few weeks ago, I go along with that.

Villa have had an excellent second half of the season

Alan Hansen

If Chelsea perform well with their players on top form, they will take some beating.

From a neutral's standpoint, the expectation is all on them. If you look at Chelsea's season, you'd have to say they have probably under-achieved.

They were magnificent in the Champions League but didn't win it and they won't be in it again next year after not doing so well in the Premiership.

Villa manager John Gregory has turned things around

Wembley represents their last chance and all the individuals concerned will be well up for this match.

Villa, on the other hand, have had an excellent second half of the season after a terrible start, when the manager's position was in jeopardy.

They've got everything to play for as well. They've had a great run and they've got some very, very good players who have a lot of confidence.

When I looked at the 11 players they could put out on the pitch, I always thought that seeing them in the bottom six of the Premiership was very much a false position.

Up and at 'em

I think Villa will approach the match in the same way they would for a Premiership game, where they would hope to get at Chelsea quickly and not give them time and space to settle.

Chelsea have certainly floundered three or four times this season when teams have attacked them from the start.

I think Chelsea's key figure this year may just be George Weah if he plays

Hansen on Chelsea

You always look for moments of individual brilliance in the Cup final and for Villa, I can see that coming from Paul Merson.

Everybody talks about the talent and technique of the foreign players, but I'd say Merson, more than anybody over the last 10 years, has been the equal of them.

He's had his problems off the pitch, but - as he puts it himself - when he gets his head right and he's playing well, he is a truly fantastic footballer.

Paul Merson is a class act

Looking at Chelsea, people would obviously turn to Zola to look for that kind of brilliance, though I think their key figure this year may just be George Weah if he plays.

Chelsea can often be accused of passing and passing the ball to death but he gives them so many different options.

He can take the ball at his feet or you can play him in over the top of the defence and when you vary your options like that, it makes it much more difficult for the opposition to cope.

Hope for a classic

Most of all, I hope the final itself will be a great game because even though Manchester United pulled out, the FA Cup has been a really exciting competition this year.

Chelsea and Villa are well capable of producing it and I can see Chelsea winning 2-1

Hansen makes his prediction

We've had lots of upsets with smaller teams beating bigger teams in the earlier rounds and that hasn't happened quite so much over the past five or six years, when we've only had only one or two.

The volume of shocks has gone up and I think that's what the FA Cup is all about.

When I played for Liverpool, the beauty of the FA Cup was you knew that any of the teams from the third or fourth division - or even the Conference - had a chance of turning you over if you were drawn away from home.

The reputation of the FA Cup has been restored to a certain extent because of all that this year and what we need from the final now is a classic.

Chelsea and Villa are well capable of producing it and I can see Chelsea winning 2-1.