Press conference

‘I know Giroud well… he’s a real fighter’

It will be roles reversed for David Luiz and Olivier Giroud when they face each other in Saturday’s Heads Up FA Cup final at Wembley.

The last time we came up against the Blues in the showpiece, the Brazilian defender was playing for the west Londoners while Giroud came on to set up the winning goal for Aaron Ramsey.

 

Now Luiz will be tasked with keeping the France international quiet - no easy feat after a fine run of form that has seen him score seven times in his last 10 appearances.

 

"With Oli you can see in the last few months how he is performing, the amount of goals he has scored for them," Mikel Arteta said. "We know him, he has the experience in the finals as well.

 

"In the case of David, it is such a special day for him to play against his former club and hopefully he can do a performance like he did against City in the semi final.

 

“I’m not surprised [by Giroud's form], because I know Oli. He is a fighter. Even when he was playing for us and he had some difficult moments, he always reacted.

 

"He always works really hard and comparing with the greatest [forwards the club has had] is like always. They've done it and they did it for long periods where they were really successful at the club. So any comparison with them is always difficult.

 

"I'm glad that he is doing really well, but hopefully tomorrow he won't do that well."

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