It’s an all English Premier League affair in the UEFA Europa League final as Chelsea and Arsenal meet at the Olympic Stadium in Baku.
Gunners’ manager Unai Emery has won the Europa League three times and Arsenal have to win to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season.
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Both Arsenal and Chelsea have had roller-coaster campaigns this season, but they’ll have a great opportunity to make it one to remember with a potential victory on Wednesday evening.Apart from the chance to lift the silverware, the match has even bigger importance for Arsenal as a victory here would guide them to the Champions League football next season through the backdoor entrance.
The Gunners lost the battle for the top-four finish in the Premier League just to the likes of Chelsea.
Chelsea lineup:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson; Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Giroud, Hazard
Arsenal lineup:
Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette
Chelsea FC Form & Team News
The Blues secured a return to the UEFA Champions League next season with Mauricio Sarri’s side finishing third in the English Premier League. Eden Hazard was the catalyst with the Belgian leading the club with 16 goals and 15 assists.
Chelsea drew five of their final six games in all competitions including two 1-1 draws against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. A penalty shootout was required with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga coming up big with two crucial saves.
Chelsea are undefeated in their last 17 UEFA Europa League matches, including a 2-1 win against Benfica in the 2012-13 Final at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam.
Arsenal FC Form & Team News
Unai Emery’s side had little trouble with Sporting CP, Vorskla and Qarabağ in the Europa League group stage before accounting for BATE Borisov, Rennes, Napoli and Valencia in the knockout rounds.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored eight goals thus far with Alexandre Lacazette next best on five.
Aubameyang is on fire with seven goals in his last four Arsenal appearances in all competitions and can be backed at 5.00 in the first goalscorer market. Fellow Gunners striker is slightly longer odds at 6.00 to score first in Baku.
Chelsea vs Arsenal: Head-to-head
Arsenal lead the head to head toe by ten wins coming into 178th encounter with the Blues.The Gunners were more successful in the most recent head to head history with Chelsea.
Arsenal won two, drew one and lost one of last four ties against Chelsea who only managed to pick up a single victory in last nine meetings with the Gunners.
The Gunners won 2-0 when these two likes last met each other in January this year at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal versus Chelsea will become the first fixture to played in the FA Cup final, EFL Cup final and a major European final.
Wednesday’s clash will mark the third time that two teams from the same nation have faced off in the Europa League final, after Porto vs. Braga in 2011 and Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao in 2012.
This is the 198th meeting between the sides in all competitions but only the third in Europe – they also met in the 2003-04 Champions League quarter-finals, with the Blues progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
Chelsea vs Arsenal: Prediction
Both sides have actually been very inconsistent with their form in recent weeks. It was a pretty messy reading for Arsenal’s fans in late-April when the team lost three on the trot in the Premier League conceding three goals in each of these defeats.
Given losses came against the likes of Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City, we can say it was quite a disappointing streak for Champions League hopefuls back then.
The Gunners did manage to raise spirits with a pair of super impressive wins over Spanish heavyweights Valencia in the Europa League semi-final. They notched seven goals in two legs and backed it up with a 1-3 victory over Burnley in the last Premier League Matchday.
The Blues will head into this unbeaten in seven subsequent games, but they also won just one of past six across competitions.