The day has arrived where one part of London will experience a doomsday while another will be glorified. Two teams, 13 km’s apart, facing the finals of Europa League have plenty at stake.
Chelsea and Arsenal will play the finals on May 29 at Baku, Azerbaijan. While Arsenal are coming from a scintillating victory over Valencia in semi-finals, Chelsea just managed to screen through courtesy Kepa’s heroics in penalties.
When and Where?
Date: May 30, Thursday
Time: 12:30 am IST
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Baku
Team News
Arsenal already are a big man short with Henrikh Mkhitariyan’s nationality and his tale of diplomatic problems. Apart from that, we are also without Aaron Ramsey, not because he has moved to Turin but of his illness which otherwise would have meant his last Arsenal experience.
There is also a cloud of doubt roaming around the chances of Petr Cech playing his final game after the news of Czech international joining Chelsea as sporting director. Having said that, Unai Emery would not want to doubt the experience of a sportsman that brings football before everything.
Chelsea have a major blow in N’golo Kante who is set to miss the Finals owing to his knee injury. Maurizio Sarri was already without the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Antonio Rudiger which leaves him with no cover in midfield.
Danny Drinkwater and Ethan Ampadu are also a doubt, giving the young Conor Gallagher a chance in the bench. The trio of Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley is most likely to feature and play the full 90 minutes.
Bounty
We conclude the campaign with highly anticipated all English European finals and this is the last chance to fancy some odds this season. Free bet sites are the preferred destination to be and get some bills outta your pocket. A big match – against a Big opponent – In a far-away destination.. Well sets a perfect fit for getting some odds. (Okay..Okay Ignore the last one, I know its frustrating)
Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri highly depend on their attackers to win them games, be it Aubameyang or Hazard. A quick look at freebets.uk shows that bookmakers too are on the fence. With equal odds of 6/1 for both attackers to be the top goalscorers, it’s hard to determine on which team to place the bet. The defensive line of both teams are comparatively weak, therefore, the team with best attack will have an upper hand, come D-day.
Predicted XI
Chelsea Predicted XI
Goalkeeper: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Defence: Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen, Emerson Palmieri
Midfield: Ross Barkley, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho
Attack: Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud, Pedro
Arsenal Predicted XI
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Defence: Nacho Monreal, Koscielny, Sokratis
Midfield: Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Sead Kolasinac
Attack: Aubameyang, Lacazette, Mesut Ozil
