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Manchester United striker
Louis Saha has been ruled out of the FA Cup final against
Chelsea with a knee injury.
Saha has failed to overcome a knee problem to play.
United right-back
Gary Neville has been ruled out with an ankle injury, while
Chelsea are without
Michael Ballack,
Ricardo Carvalho and
Andriy Shevchenko.
Blues boss
Jose Mourinho also lamented his lack of players and also has doubts over
Ashley Cole,
Jon Obi-Mikel and
Arjen Robben.
Mourinho suggested he may have to play keeper
Hilario up front if his injury problems continued but it is more likely to use Israeli youngster
Ben Sahar.
United counterpart
Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to have central defender
Nemanja Vidic back to partner
Rio Ferdinand at the back.
Vidic returned in the second leg 3-0 loss at
AC Milan after breaking a collarbone.
The Serbian played in the derby win at
Manchester City when
United clinched the title before sitting out the draw at
Chelsea and the final game of the season in the defeat by
West Ham.
Saha's absence opens the door for
Alan Smith or
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to play a prominent role.
"Louis is out," said
Ferguson.
"He picked up the knee injury in
Milan and we did another scan on Monday to identify the problem more clearly."
BIG-MATCH FACTS
CHELSEA against
Manchester United is a fitting fixture with which to end the domestic season, but it's only the third time in history that the leading two clubs in the League have graced the FA Cup final.
In
1913,
Aston Villa beat the champions
Sunderland 1-0, and in 1986 champions
Liverpool did the League and FA Cup double, in beating their Merseyside rivals and League runners-up
Everton 3-1.
Having spent the Premiership season chasing
Manchester United,
Chelsea are looking to the FA Cup to compensate for surrendering their League crown to the
Red Devils.
The Londoners were the last club to win the FA Cup final at the old Wembley in 2000 and are keen to be the first to lift the silverware at the magnificent new structure, built at a cost of more than £750 million.
Seven years ago,
Chelsea beat
Aston Villa 1-0 in the end-of-season showpiece with a goal from
Roberto Di Matteo.
The same player scored the fastest goal in Wembley Cup Final history three years earlier, when his strike after 43 seconds led to a 2-0 victory over
Middlesbrough.
It wasn't so clear cut in 1970 as the final went to a replay.
The original tie, played on a disgraceful surface that had earlier hosted the Horse of the Year Show, ended 2-2 after 120 minutes.
Chelsea prevailed 2-1 in the replay at
Old Trafford.
Peter Osgood ensured he scored in every round, and David Webb won it in extra time.
The west Londoners qualified for the final only once in the six years it was held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
They lost 2-0 to
Arsenal in 2002.
The FA Cup remains the only domestic trophy
Chelsea have not won under owner
Roman Abramovich and manager
Jose Mourinho.
They go into Saturday's game in front of 90,000 and a global television audience on their longest winless run in the
Mourinho era of five matches.
They ended the Premiership season with five draws, interspersed by the loss on penalties to
Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.
This will be the ninth time that managers
Mourinho and
Sir Alex Ferguson have gone head-to-head.
The Portuguese has the better record with four wins, one loss and three draws.
The defeat was 1-0 in last season's visit to
Old Trafford when
United ended
Chelsea's 40-match unbeaten Premiership run.
Chelsea gained revenge by clinching their second straight Premier League title with a 3-0 success in last season's reverse fixture.
This season's two meetings were all square, although the
Stamford Bridge fixture was an uncompetitive affair as the title had just been claimed by the
Red Devils.
Goalkeeper
Petr CECH could well be celebrating an early birthday present should
Chelsea win.
The Czech Republic international turns 25 the day after the final.
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MANCHESTER UNITED take on their free-spending fierce rivals eager to complete a first League and FA Cup double since famously completing the treble with the Champions League in 1999.
At the same time they would also deny
Chelsea a Carling Cup and FA Cup double.
The
Old Trafford giants are making a record 18th appearance in the FA Cup final, and are setting their sights on lifting the trophy for a 12th time, thus increasing the outright record they already hold.
Seven of the previous 17 final appearances were under
Sir Alex, and five of those were victorious (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004).
Ferguson has won 18 major trophies as
United manager and 27 titles in total in his managerial career in Scottish and English football - a post-war record.
While
Chelsea eased their way into the quarter-finals with home ties against lower League opposition in Macclesfield, Nottingham Forest and Norwich, before dismissing Tottenham after a replay, and Blackburn after extra time,
Manchester United have come up against Premiership opposition all the way.
They accounted for Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Watford at the first time of asking, and Reading and Middlesbrough after replays.
Their Cup run has produced 23 goals, 15 by
United, whereas
Chelsea's has yielded 26 goals, 20 by
the Blues.
The Red Devils had dominated meetings with
Chelsea in football's oldest knock out competition.
This is the 10th time they find themselves facing each other.
United lead by eight wins to one.
Since
Chelsea's solitary success in the quarter-finals in 1950,
United have won seven clashes, six at the first time of asking.
They needed a replay on the most recent occasion, in the last four in 1999.
A goalless draw at the
Theatre of Dreams was followed by a 0-2 success in west London when
Dwight Yorke scored both.
United's most important victory came in the 1994 final, when
Eric Cantona was at his height.
The Frenchman scored two penalties in seven minutes after the hour of a match which had been level pegging until then.
Mark Hughes and
Brian McClair were the other scorers in a 4-0 triumph against Glenn Hoddle's side that completed United's first ever League and FA Cup double.
This final could provide
Paul Scholes with a third FA Cup winners' medal after successes in 1999 and 2004, but
Ryan Giggs could go one better, and become the first player to claim five winners' medals since Jimmy Forrest of Blackburn Rovers in 1891.
Victory would also give the 33-year old Welshmen his 17th major honour, which would equal the all-time record of Liverpool's Phil Neal.
The PFA's Player and Young Player of the Year and United's 23-goal leading scorer this season,
Ronaldo, will be making his 150th start for the club if he lines-up for the kick off