Chelsea vs Arsenal
The first of the all-English finals is on the horizon, as Arsenal takes on Chelsea in the Europa League climax in Baku next Wednesday.
Liverpool and Spurs are preparing to meet in the Champions League final, but this clash with Chelsea gives Arsenal a crucial opportunity to reach next season’s big European competition, and that’s where the North London club wants to be.
Having spectacularly blown their top four hopes with a late run of three defeats and a draw, the Gunners finished in fifth place when it could have been so much better. Chelsea finished in third and so their berth in the 2019/2020 Champions League is already reserved.
Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has an impressive record in this competition, lifting the title three times on the run with Sevilla. And he will need to use all his experience in the big games to overcome Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea. The Blues have been the SBOBET favourites in the Europa League 2019 betting odds since the knockout stages, and they remain so for the final.
Talking Points
Hazard vs Aubameyang
This contest will give two of the Premier League’s best players to showcase their talents. Eden Hazard has been Chelsea’s talisman for seven seasons, scoring 85 goals, none better than a mazy run and finish to beat West Ham this season. He’ll be a big miss as and when he leaves Stamford Bridge, again this season showing what a brilliant player he is.
Hazard was the 2018/2019 top assists maker with 15, while scoring 16 goals to rank eighth in that table.
Meanwhile Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has announced himself on the Premier League stage by winning the Golden Boot, shared with Liverpool duo Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, scoring 22 goals. And he bagged a hat-trick in the second leg Europa semi final victory over Valencia.
One slightly surprising stat is that Hazard has had more shots on target than Aubameyang at 43 to 40, which gives the Gunner an impressive shots-to-goal ratio.
Henrikh stays at home
The big Europa League 2019 news this week was more of a political nature, but it is bad news for Arsenal.
Tensions in Eastern Europe have robbed the Gunners of one of their key creative players as Henrikh Mkhitaryan has announced his withdrawal from the Arsenal squad. The final’s destination of Baku has caused the attacking midfielder to make this decision as his country, Armenia, is currently on fractious terms with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Mkhitaryan said: “It’s the kind of game that doesn’t come along very often for us players, and I must admit, it hurts me a lot to miss it.” UEFA has reacted by saying it has received assurances that the player would be safe and has sent a comprehensive security plan to Arsenal. But that’s not good enough for Mkhitaryan and the club respects his stance.
One player guaranteed to be on the flight is keeper Petr Cech. He has been behind Bernd Leno in the Premier League pecking order but he has played in the Europa League. So I expect him to play against his former club, before he returns to Stamford Bridge in his new role as sporting director at Chelsea
Is this Sarri’s last stand?
Maurizio Sarri’s future has been the subject of much discussion at the Bridge, and there are rumours of a return to Serie A. But surely a top three finish in a hugely competitive league and a European final isn’t a bad return in his first season in England.
The Blues have the ability to blow teams away when the mood takes them, recently destroying FA Cup finalists Watford with a 45 minute blitz, and if Chelsea is happy to let their head coach go after one season then so be it; but I think that would be a mistake. And, in response to reports that his future may depend on the result in Baku, the boss has taken a defiant stance saying: “You cannot do ten months of work and then I have to play everything ion 90 minutes. It’s not right. It’s not the right way. You’re either happy about my work or you’re not happy.”
That sounds fair to me.
History
Arsenal is just ahead in the head-to-head meetings since 1993, with 26 wins to Chelsea’s 23 and there have been 19 draws.
The honours have been shared in this season’s Premier League, Chelsea winning an August fixture 3-2, but the Gunners exacted their revenge in January with a 2-0 win at the Emirates, Alexandre Lacazette scoring the opening goal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick at the Mestalla as Arsenal saw of Valencia to reach this final with a 7-3 aggregate victory, but the Blues had a more nervy passage to Baku, beating Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties.
Arsenal’s defence has not been the most solid this term, and they’ll have to look out for old boy Olivier Giroud, who has ten goals in the competition and has just signed a contract extension to keep him at Chelsea for another 12 months.
Betting Tip
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Chelsea vs Arsenal | Arsenal Draw no Bet @ 2.28 |
| May 30, 03:00(GMT+8) |
At odds of 2.39 Sarri’s Blues will begin the game as favourites, with the Gunners at 2.89 to win in 90 minutes and the draw at 3.20.
1-1 is the most likely result at 5.40 and I do expect a close game. But while Sarri wants to keep proving his critics wrong, the stakes are much higher for Arsenal, and I think Emery’s Europa pedigree might just give Arsenal the edge.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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