Walcott starts for Arsenal in FA Cup final against Villa

LONDON (Reuters) - England striker Theo Walcott will lead the Arsenal attack against Aston Villa in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday after scoring a Premier League hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion last weekend.

(Reuters)

Walcott’s inclusion means fellow striker Olivier Giroud is on the substitutes bench, while goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny starts in place of Arsenal’s regular league stopper David Ospina.

Villa keeper Shay Given, 39, has recovered from a groin injury to start in goal, 17 years after his previous Cup final appearance with Newcastle United in 1998. Teams:

Arsenal: 1-Wojciech Szczesny; 39-Hector Bellerin, 4-Per Mertesacker (captain), 6-Laurent Koscielny, 18-Nacho Monreal; 34-Francis Coquelin, 19-Santi Cazorla, 16-Aaron Ramsey, 11-Mesut Ozil, 17-Alexis Sanchez; 14-Theo Walcott.

Aston Villa: 31-Shay Given; 21-Alan Hutton, 4-Ron Vlaar, 5-Jores Okore, 18-Kieran Richardson; 15-Ashley Westwood, 16-Fabian Delph (captain), 8-Tom Cleverley, 40-Jack Grealish, 28-Charles N'Zogbia; 20-Christian Benteke.

Referee: Jonathan Moss

(Reporting by Michael Hann; editing by Justin Palmer)