As you’re hopefully aware (because I told you on Wednesday if you bothered to pay attention), Aston Villa made the trip down to London yesterday. Since they’ve effectively started the preparation for Sunday’s final, I figured I might as well follow suit.

Stiliyan Petrov deserves a special mention. He was sent home suffering a virus prior to Wednesday’s FA Cup match with Crystal Palace and there’s been some speculation since then that he may not make the final. He’s much more positive and said that he trained lightly yesterday. I’d assume at this stage that he didn’t travel with the rest of the squad, but perhaps I’d do better to remember what happens when one assumes.

Let’s hope he’s fit and well in time. I’m not convinced that a less than 100% Petrov is better than the other options, but then this is a big occasion and he has the experience to deal with it. My suspicion would have to be that he’ll move mountains to make sure he can play and you just try to stop him.

Arguably the biggest selection headache that MON has, or at least the one that’s the hottest topic of debate among the fans right now, is the choice of goal keeper. An opinion I keep running into is that Brad Guzan deserves to get the nod and on that note you’ll get no argument from me, he most certainly does deserve it. However, you would do very well to convince me that’s an appropriate basis to pick a side for any game, let alone the club’s first cup final in a decade.

I think there’s a certain argument to leaving him out for his own benefit. If picked, he could play a blinder, perhaps put in a match winning performance, and his star would rise exponentially, but what would happen if he stunk up the place and even cost us the game? Anyone remember what happened to Scott Carson after he flopped on his England debut? Exactly!

Some people might claim that at 38, Brad Friedel as lost some of sharpness, but I’m not so sure. Even if that were true, his experience and positional sense allows him to still make many saves that other keepers couldn’t. Guzan looked far more comfortable in his area against Palace this week than he had against Blackburn in the semi-final, but there was still a break down in communication between him and Carlos Cuellar over who should deal with a dangerous ball into the box. In the end, Cuellar hoofed it to safety, but both men had plenty to say to each other afterward.

Personally, and this is just a hunch, having shown that he was willing to put Friedel into a cup game at Selhurst Park, I think MON was resting the older Brad when he started the younger one in the replay. It could be that he was giving the apprentice one final chance to state his case for the final and, if that’s the case, only the manager will know whether he’s done enough.

Perhaps one solution would be to start with Friedel and keep a substitution in hand, which shouldn’t be difficult for MON, and should we end up going to penalties, bring Guzan on just before the final whistle, just in time for the shoot out. If there’s one thing we can all agree on; there’s no question who we would want in goal if it came to the dreaded shoot out.

Stephen Warnock has been making a headline or two in the last 24 hours, or more accurately Wayne Bridge has dragged his name into the limelight. Apparently Bridge doesn’t want to go to South Africa, opening up the door to a list of suitors for the role of Ashley Cole’s understudy. I know, who wouldn’t want that role, right? As far as timing and occasion goes, could this be a better opportunity for Warnock to show what he’s got?

Across the back, Carlos Cuellar and Richard Dunne have to be as nailed on to start as it’s possible to be, so it’s just a question whether rested James Collins will be recalled to partner Dunne in the middle, with Cuellar at right back, or whether Luke Young will get the nod at full back.

As much as Collins has impressed me since he joined, I feel that Luke Young is a better right back than Carlos Cuellar and that he and Dunne have barely put a foot wrong in the middle, so if it were my decision, Collins would start on the bench. If the 3 centre backs had been more productive from corners and free kicks, as I’ve lamented before, I’d be temped to say that the benefits of playing all three outweigh the deficits at full back, but they haven’t.

In midfield, could it be that MON recently handed Fabian Delph a rare Premiership start against Man Utd with this game in mind? Delph put in his best performance for Villa to date in that game and the confidence derived from that could be invaluable should he be called upon at Wembley. He certainly seems to be genuinely ahead of Steve Sidwell now, so if Petrov isn’t available, we’d have to expect the youngster to start. 20 years old, starting a Wembley final against Man Utd, it’s a big ask.

Whatever the selection problems in the middle, we all know that James Milner, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing will be in the starting XI. I mean, aside from a meteorite crashing into the team hotel, we all know this. I have little add to this, except to repeat that I was particularly happy with the 4-2-3-1 MON put out against Utd last time. Just saying.

If Stan is available, and MON does go with the 4-2-3-1 again, then it’s Gabby Agbonlahor plowing the top field alone. However, John Carew won and scored two penalties very well to kill off Palace on Wednesday so can’t be discounted and Emile Heskey is always in the frame for a start.

Honestly, I’ve absolutely no clue whether MON will fancy a 4-4-2 against Utd or not. No clue. None. The good thing is that Alex Ferguson can be none the wiser either, not that he will necessarily pick his team around our likely selection though. As I understand it, he may not have rich pickings anyway, with several key players unavailable.

I want to finish up by mentioning that Nathan Delfouneso has caught Stuart Pearce’s eye and received his first call up to the England Under-21 squad for the European Championship qualifier with group leaders Greece next week along with Fabian Delph. Brad Guzan is in the US squad travelling to Amsterdam for a friendly against Holland next week and we wait to see who Fabio Capello will call up for England’s friendly against Egypt.

Actually, one final, final thing. I’ve deliberately avoided referring to Guzan as “Little Brad” or anything similar in this post since I noticed earlier that he’s the same height and 20 lbs heavier than the man we sing about being bigger than me and you. It seems that little Brad is bigger than him which pretty much makes him the biggest player in the squad and it’s well known that Americans don’t get irony.