Chelsea vs Arsenal: Team News, Prediction, Lineups
Premier League rivals Chelsea and Arsenal will meet in the final of the 2019 Europa League at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan on Wednesday night.
This is only the second final of UEFA's secondary competition, after Tottenham Hotspur against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1972 UEFA Cup, and it is considered a decisive match for both sides.
A fifth position in the league in the first Unai Emery campaign at the helm will only be considered a success if Arsenal take the lead midway through the week, while Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has been under pressure all season and could win some silver.
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| Chelsea vs Arsenal Europa league Final 2019 |
Chelsea
All the talk in preparation for Wednesday's game, far from the logistical problems that both groups of supporters face for this gigantic trip to the Caspian Sea, focused on the future of Chelsea boss Sarri.According to reports, the Italian has already reached an agreement with Juventus to become his next head coach, regardless of the result of the European League final, as he failed to win the Blues fans with his style of play. .
As defender David Luiz has pointed out, however, this can not be considered a poor campaign in any way. Chelsea finished third in the Premier League, guaranteeing them a place in the Champions League next season, a luxury Arsenal that he does not have, while he will also be runner-up in the EFL Cup.
Adding a second Europa League crown to his collection, six years after his previous triumph, would not be the worst way for Sarri to retire if this is really the final match of his short duration.
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| Chelsea vs Arsenal Europa League Final 2019 |
Including the 2-1 victory over Benfica in Amsterdam under Benitez, the Blues have won four of their five major European finals (two Cup Cups, one of Champions and one of Europe). Among the English teams, only Manchester United (five) and Liverpool (eight) have won more matches of this type.
Chelsea have already won 11 matches in this season's competition, advancing through the group stage with ease before beating Malmo, Dynamo Kiev, Slavia Prague and Eintracht Frankfurt in the last 16.
Sarri's men demanded penalties to do the work against Frankfurt, after being stuck in the second leg at Stamford Bridge to draw 2-2 on aggregate at the end of the 180 minutes. Kepa Arrizabalaga was the hero thanks to a couple of saves in the shooting, preparing this final with Arsenal.
Sarri, who is the first Italian to reach a UEFA Cup / Europa League final since Alberto Malesani of Parma in 1999, now has one more game to score to defuse what has been perceived as a disappointing campaign in a positive . His legacy in English football may be determined by the result of this last game of the season.
Recent form in the Europa League: WWWWDW
Recent form (all competitions): DDWWDW
Arsenal
A slump at the end of the Premier League campaign, by winning only one game of six before his last day of bout against Burnley, means that Emery missed a top-four final in his first season on these coasts.That will be considered a great disappointment for the Spanish, although it has the safety net of the Europa League. This is a competition that he knows well, after having been in the first three consecutive years with Sevilla, and provides a direct route to the Champions League for the winners.
It is fair to say, then, that everything comes down to this fight for Emery. Like Sarri, he is under pressure to achieve success while instilling his own style of play in his group of players; however, unlike your opposite number, you do not have to reject the questions regarding your employment status.
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| Chelsea vs Arsenal Europa league Final 2019 |
The victory for Arsenal on Wednesday would make Emery the fourth coach to win the UEFA / Europa League Cup with two different teams, after Giovanni Trapattoni (with Juventus and Inter Milan), José Mourinho (Porto and Man United) and Benítez (Valencia and Chelsea). ).
The Gunners fell short in the two national cup competitions this quarter, as they were eliminated from the EFL Cup by Tottenham in the quarterfinals and by Man United in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
His fifth place in the Premier League can also be considered a disappointment, meanwhile, considering that they were on the favorites list to finish fourth with one month of the season ahead.
In spite of all that, a positive turn can be made to the 2018-19 campaign with the victory over Chelsea. This will be the sixth Arsenal final in a great UEFA competition, equal to that of their opponents: only Man United (seven) and Liverpool (14, including 2019 Champions League) have reached more among the English clubs.
However, the North London team has lost four of their top five European finals, with their only win in the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup against Parma. They have lost each of their last three, in fact: the 1995 Cup of Winners, the 2000 UEFA Cup and the 2006 Champions League final.
That is a poor record that needs improvement and, unlike what happened with Barcelona in the 2006 masterpiece in Paris, Arsenal will be considered at least on par with its opponents this time.
Arsenal can enjoy rare success on the continent by beating its enemies in London 2,500 miles from home and, on a personal level, there is also the story for Emery in what could become a successful inaugural campaign in the Emirates. Stadium. .
Recent form in Europa League: LWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): LLWDWW
Team news
Chelsea suffered a major blow before their trip to Baku with the news that N'Golo Kante suffered a setback due to a training injury, which is expected to exclude him from Wednesday's game.That puts more pressure on the likes of Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley to stay in shape, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek already confirmed due to an Achilles injury in a US friendly shortly after the end of the Premier League season. .
Defender Antonio Rudiger and striker Callum Hudson-Odoi are the other two confirmed absentees from Chelsea, with none of them traveling to Azerbaijan.
Sarri has to make a decision as to who runs his line. Olivier Giroud has received the nod most often in the Europa League and has sent a message to find the net 10 times in the competition, the largest amount of a Chelsea player in a single European season, and is the favorite to start. by Gonzalo Higuaín here.
As for Arsenal, they can not count on Henrikh Mkhitaryan for political reasons, which Emery admits is bad news for his team: the midfielder has been used 11 times so far in this season's competition.
Aaron Ramsey will not have the opportunity to say a final farewell to the supporters, meanwhile, as he thigh was damaged against Napoli last month and is definitely eliminated, like Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Barcelona borrower Denis Suarez.
Emery has not yet ruled out Danny Welbeck out of contention, but the English striker, who will leave the club in summer, has not played since November and will surely not play any role in this great game.
The last eight goals of Arsenal in the Europa League have been marked by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (four) or Alexandre Lacazette (four).
Possible Chelsea Lineup:
GK: Kepa
DEF: Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson
MID: Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley
FW: Pedro, Giroud, Hazard
Possible Arsenal Lineup:
GK: Cech
DEF: Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal
MID: Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Ozil
FW: Aubameyang, Lacazette
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