Football Results

Chelsea and Arsenal didn’t play in the Champions League this season and they are in the Europa League from the very beginning. They will play for the title that might save the season for both teams since they won nothing else. Stakes are higher for Arsenal as it failed to reach the Champions League through the English Premiership. Regarding their head-to-head, each team won at home in the league.

Chelsea

Chelsea should be satisfied with the season if it wins the Europa League title because it also played in the final of the League Cup but was left empty handed since Manchester City won after penalty shootout. They couldn’t join the title race in the league and that was disappointing but the leading duo was definitely untouchable. Chelsea finished right behind Manchester City and Liverpool and being the third they secured a place for themselves in the Champions League next season, which was the main objective.

It can be said that the FA Cup was a disappointment since they were eliminated after home defeat by Manchester United, while they are undefeated in the Europa League all the way till this final. Out of 14 matches Chelsea won 11 and drew three, two of which with Eintrach in the semi-finals. The team from Frankfurt was the only one that created problems for them, and they reached the final only after penalty shootout. Chelsea will be weakened in the final for Rudiger, Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi who are injured. Kante is questionable for the match but he should play.

Probable lineups Chelsea: Arrizabalaga – Azpilicueta, D. Luiz, A. Christensen, M. Alonso – Jorginho, Kante, Barkley – Pedro, Giroud, E. Hazard

Arsenal

The Europa League final has much greater value for Arsenal. Not only they didn’t won any trophies for the time being, but they failed to squeeze into first four positioned teams in the Premier League as they ended at the fifth place. This was enough only for the Europa League next season, however, it they win this final it means they won’t defend it as will automatically qualify for the Champions League and that is why stakes are really high. It seems that the Gunners were focused more on the Europa League in the finish of season as it seemed that would be easier to reach the Champions League through this competition.

They suffered three defeats in a row in the finish of the Premier League by not overly strong teams, and they very easily received goals in those matches. At the end they won Burnley away, which meant almost nothing but they won Valencia twice in the semi-finals of the Europa League, despite being the first to receive goals in both matches. They had eliminated the vice-champion of Italy Napoli in the quarter-finals and it can be said that Arsenal had a more difficult path toward the final than Chelsea. They lost two matches but it didn’t cost much. Number of players was injured from before, but the biggest handicap is that Mkhitaryan cannot play due to political reasons.

Probable lineups Arsenal: Leno – Monreal, Sokratis, Mustafi, Kolasinac – Guendouzi, G. Xhaka, Torreira – Ozil, Iwobi – Aubameyang

Verdict:

It is really hard to tell who has advantage in the final that will be played in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, as the two teams are of similar quality and had similar problems this season. Still, stakes are higher for Arsenal and we believe that the Gunners will have stronger motive, so we give them a slight advantage.

Pick: Asian handicap +0,0.5 Arsenal 1.97 - 97/100 @1XBet