Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has publically expressed his fears regarding the FA Cup Final and the chances of it progressing to a penalty shoot out. The United manager who has led Manchester United to 9 Premiership titles has a woeful record in facing penalty shootouts. It started back in 1984 when as manager of Aberdeen his side crashed out of the European Cup. Aberdeen lost 5-4 on penalties to Dynamo Berlin. In 1986 Sir Alex Ferguson became manager of Manchester United and has 3 defeats on penalties to his name. The most memorable was only 2 years ago in 2005 when United lost the FA Cup Final to Arsenal. Manchester United had dominated the match but when extra time brought no goals the final went to spot kicks. Patrick Vieira scored for Arsenal to claim the FA Cup Final for the gunners.

Ferguson has actually won 3 penalty shootouts as manager of United. However, each win has been for minor games in the community or charity shields. The wins came in 93 and 02 against Arsenal and 10 years back in 1997 they defeated Chelsea in a penalty shoot out. During the course of this season in the English Premier League Chelsea and Manchester United have drawn on both their meetings. With a potential double for either side it will be no surprise if normal time cannot find an overall winner. However, Alex Ferguson will prefer the game to be decided during play and to put his penalty history behind.

Chelsea last lifted the FA Cup back in 2000. The FA Cup Final played in the old Wembley was against Aston Villa. Manchester United won the domestic trophy as recently as 2004 in a victory over Millwall. The match on Saturday promises to be one to remember. 90,000 tickets have been sold for the game as the top 2 teams in the Premier League and 2 of the top teams in Europe do battle. For Manchester United it would be a thrilling end to a successful season which saw them lift the Premiership title. For Chelsea it would be a welcome end to a mediocre season in which they managed to secure the English Carling Cup.