Chelsea will clash heads with their London rivals, Arsenal at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan later tonight in the UEFA Europa League final. Both teams will be confident about their chances of lifting the European trophy, but the Gunners will have even more motivation as they can potentially secure UEFA Champions League football for next season if they can get the better of the Pensioners tonight.
Talking Tactics
Maurizio Sarri is expected to opt for a 4-3-3 formation, and he might decide to go with Olivier Giroud in place of Gonzalo Higuain in the opposition half. The Frenchman has scored ten goals in the UEFA Europa League this season so it would be a fascinating battle when Giroud goes up against Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Unai Emery might opt for a 3-4-1-2 set-up so that he can play Mesut Ozil behind the dangerous strikeforce of Aubameyang and Lacazette. It will also add more protection at the back as Arsenal will be able to play with two holding midfielders and three centre-backs.
Team News
Chelsea
The Pensioners are sweating on the fitness of N’Golo Kante as the French midfielder played for only 25 minutes in the last training session before the final (via the Metro). However, both Antonio Rudiger and Callum Hudson-Odoi will definitely miss the final after the duo underwent a knee and an Achilles surgery respectively. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also expected to miss out on this clash after he suffered a severe injury against the New England Revolution in a friendly match earlier this month.
Chelsea Predicted XI
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson; Kante, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Giroud, Hazard
Arsenal
Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not feature in the final due to safety concerns. Aaron Ramsey won’t get a chance to end his Arsenal career on a high as he is unavailable after picking up a thigh injury. Hector Bellerin (knee), Rob Holding (knee), Danny Welbeck (ankle) and Denis Suarez (groin) remain long-term absentees for the Gunners.
Arsenal Predicted XI
Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette
Key Men
Chelsea
Eden Hazard will once again be Chelsea’s biggest weapon going forward. The Belgian international will be expected to have a good game as he looks to deliver a trophy before possibly leaving the West London outfit later this summer.
The performance of Olivier Giroud against his old club could also be a crucial factor in determining the fate of the final. Sarri will hope that Thomas Christensen can handle the pressure and puts in a commanding performance alongside David Luiz at the heart of the Pensioners defence.
Arsenal
Both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are expected to link up play in the Chelsea half. Emery might expect his two world-class forwards to get their names on the scoresheet tonight while Mesut Ozil acts as a facilitator in the number 10 position.
This match will serve as Petr Cech’s last game for Arsenal so he will be determined to put in a match-winning performance in between the sticks for the North London outfit.
Odds
The bookmakers have made Chelsea the slight favourites to win the match as they are priced at 7/2. Both the draw and an Arsenal win are priced at 12/5 which could be where the smart money lies before the game.
