#BVGoldenGoal – Five Stats that Matter for the FA Cup Final

The #BVGoldenGoal returns for the FA Cup final, with £25,000 up for grabs.

The showpiece occasion at Wembley pits Chelsea against Manchester United – and whichever side loses will end the season trophy-less – so there’s a lot on the line for Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

You need to predict the man, the minute and the match to have a chance of winning the share of the £25k prize pool – we’ve crunched the numbers to give an insight into what might happen on the big day.

25 – Manchester United have won all 25 of the Premier League & FA Cup matches they have scored first in this season

This stat would suggest that if you’re backing a United player to score first and United to win, you could well be on to a winner. The most popular combination is Alexis Sanchez to score the #BVGoldenGoal in the 17th minute and Manchester United to win 2-1.

If you’re backing United to score first and win to nil, then 2-0 has been backed by just 9;

3 – three of the 8 meetings between these two sides at Wembley have gone to penalty shootouts

The last time they met in the FA Cup final, in the 2006-07, a tight and tense affair was settled by Didier Drogba’s extra time effort.

Two of the last four FA Cup finals have been settled after extra time, and after a long, hard season for both sides, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this one go the distance.

1-1 is the most popular pick in terms of draw scorelines, with just over 8{2145621b26fc9aaf9f712205cef9de9b6b89ae8741f566ab7f58c50f0e39ac2a}.

12 – in 4  of the last 9 FA Cup finals, the opening goal has been scored earlier than the 12th minute

Fast starts have been a theme in the recent history of the showpiece occasion at Wembley – including last season, with Alexis Sanchez’s 4th minute strike helping Arsenal defeat Chelsea 2-1.

Whether its the nerves of the big occasion, lack of concentration, or perhaps a combination of both of these things, there does seem to be a theme here.

Interestingly, Chelsea also conceded very early on in the 2008-09 final – Louis Saha’s shot for Everton after 25 seconds was the fastest ever goal in an FA Cup final.

At the moment, very few selections have been made on the #BVGoldenGoal being scored before the 10th minute – so it could be worth looking into.

3 – Alvaro Morata has already scored the #BVGoldenGoal three times this season

WOW ?

Full-time in this week's #BVGoldenGoal DOUBLE ROLLOVER.
And what a week for one lucky punter!

?️ The Man: Alvaro Morata
?️ The Minute: 42'
⚽ The Match: Leicester 1 – 1 Chelsea

ONE WINNER will take home £75,000! pic.twitter.com/JzQDamIVcp

— BetVictor (@BetVictor) March 18, 2018

Once you’ve seen this stat, it will come as a surprise that Morata is only the 8th most popular pick to net the #BVGoldenGoal in Saturday’s Cup Final.

He scored the opener in the following #BVGoldenGoal matches: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Premier League, 55th minute), Leicester City 1-1 (FA Cup, 42nd minute) & Chelsea 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League, 30th minute).

It’s also worth noting that six of Morata’s 11 PL goals in his debut season in England have been the first goal of the match.

8 – Jesse Lingard has scored 8 goals in 21 appearances in domestic Cup competitions for Manchester United 

The England midfielder has a knack of finding the back of the net in the Cup – he’s also scored three times at Wembley; in the EFL Cup final last season, and in both the FA Cup final and the Community Shield in 2015-16.

He has a knack of turning up for the big occasion – and also scored against Chelsea in the Premier League earlier this season.

Just 2.1{2145621b26fc9aaf9f712205cef9de9b6b89ae8741f566ab7f58c50f0e39ac2a} of people are backing Lingard to net this week’s #BVGoldenGoal – and he is definitely worth considering.

So, will these facts influence your picks for the competition?

Remember – If you’ve picked a first goalscorer that’s isn’t in the matchday squad, we will voided your selection and give you another one to use before kick-off.

You can enter this week’s #BVGoldenGoal competition here.

Good luck!