Chelsea meets with Arsenal in the Europa League final. The match will be played on Wednesday, May 29th at Baku Olympic Stadium (Baku)
The season for Chelsea was rather difficult. A new coach headed the team in summer, and his pouring into the team was not easy. There were several big defeats, and largely, they happened because the specialist and his men simply did not understand each other. However, the Blues showed a good ending of the season, having pulled out the third place in the Premier League, which automatically guarantees the Champions League group stage for the next season. However, the men of Maurizio Sarri could have got there through the Europa League – there is only one step to the first trophy in the coaching career of an Italian specialist.
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As for the current European Cup season, Chelsea played in the group stage using a semi-reserve squad; however, the quartet of the Blues was very weak so the team easily took the first place. Even at the playoff stage, the Pensioners often played without key players, especially in away matches. Nevertheless, we will not deny the fact that Sarri's men were seriously lucky with the draw. Only Eintracht Frankfurt managed to impose the struggle on the Blues far in the semifinals. The teams tied twice (1:1), and the hosts gained the victory only in a penalty shootout in London.
In the group stage of the Europa League, the Gunners did not feel the competition - they played with Sporting, Vorskla and Qarabag and lost points only in one of the six matches. With that, a completely reserve squad played in the away match against Poltava, but even this did not prevent the Gunners from gaining three points - 3:0. But in the playoffs, Arsenal did not look so convincing. If we talk about the confrontation with Bate Borisov and Rennes, the Gunners lost first away matches, using semi-reserve squads, but they corrected the situation at home.
In the quarterfinals, Arsenal had a serious contender - Napoli, but the Italians lost in all respects, being outplayed in two games. The men of Emery overcame Valencia not less confidently, despite the Bats gained excellent shape in the course of the season. The Gunners approach the Europa League final with a few losses, and this may complicate Emery's task. However, the very person of the head coach can play an important role in the finals - Unai has already won the Europa League finals three times. Arsenal has not raised trophies overhead for a long time, but this task is easier to solve with Emery. Moreover, it is necessary to take into account the factor of motivation for the game - the Gunners will have more of it. The reason is that that they finished fifth in the Premier League without getting into the Champions League zone, but if they manage to win in Baku, they will spend the next season in the strongest European club tournament.
The history of the confrontation between two London teams is very solid - 194 matches. In these matches, there is an advantage of Arsenal - 75 victories; Chelsea won 62 times, and another 57 matches ended with a peaceful outcome. The vast majority of head-to-head matches took place in the framework of the Premier League, but there two games between these teams in the Champions League. 15 years ago in the quarterfinals, Chelsea beat the Gunners with a total score of 3:2. Let us note that Arsenal has an advantage in recent head-to-head meetings.
Chelsea will not be able to count on Loftus-Cheek, and Kante, Odoi and Rudiger, who have injuries, may also miss the upcoming final. But the Gunners have more losses - Mkhitaryan will not come because of the interethnic conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia; Bellerin, Ramsey, Suarez and Welbeck are injured. In this final, we are going to see a battle where the winner may not be determined after the end of the regulation time.
Prediction for the match: Draw
