2019 Europa League Final Preview: Chelsea vs Arsenal
May 24, 2019
It will be an exciting showdown on May 29 when fierce Premier League rivals Chelsea and Arsenal clash in the final of the Europa League in Baku.
The 2018/19 UEFA Europa League final will take place on Wednesday and will feature two London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal. The UEL final will take place in the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Both Chelsea and Arsenal have had mixed seasons domestically. Chelsea finished in third place in the Premier League, while Arsenal finished fifth.
Chelsea and Arsenal are both playing in their second Europa League final, Chelsea won the competition in 2013 and Arsenal finished as runner-up in 2000.
Here’s the match preview of the Europa League final between Chelsea and Arsenal.
Chelsea
Chelsea path to the final was very convincing; they comfortably topped Group L with five wins and one draw before dispatching Malmo, Dynamo Kyiv, and Slavia Prague to reach the semis. They had to win by penalties over Eintracht Frankfurt in the semifinals.
Chelsea boasts of the competition’s top scorer Olivier Giroud (10 goals) as well as their star player, Eden Hazard, who will lead the attack.
Team News: Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been impressive for The Blues in the tournament; he even has 4 Europa League goals to his name. However, Loftus-Cheek will miss the final, after sustaining a left Achilles injury while defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante has returned to training ahead of the final after suffering a hamstring strain.
Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri will have to devise a plan to stop Arsenal’s attacking duo from scoring, if he wants to win the Cup.
Also, Chelsea has not lost a Europa League match this season.
Arsenal
Arsenal put up a spectacular performance in Group E, with five wins and one draw. Their path to the final included victories over BATE, Rennes, Napoli, and Valencia. The Gunners have lost two games throughout the tournament.
Unai Emery has always been successful in the Europa League; he won the competition three consecutive times with Sevilla from 2014-2016.
Team News: Arsenal does not have any major injury concerns ahead of the match. However, they will be without Armenian midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who will not travel to Baku for safety reasons due to a longstanding conflict between his country Armenia and final hosts, Azerbaijan.
Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng and Alexandre Lacazette, have been a fantastic attacking duo for Arsenal. The deadly duo scored all seven of the Gunners’ goals in the two legs of the semifinals against Valencia. In the Europa League alone, the duo has a combined 13 goals and seven assists.
Arsenal will desperately want to win the Europa League, because of their fifth-place finish in the English Premier League. They know that as Europa League champions, they’ll receive an automatic place in the group stage of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League.
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This article is brought to us by our Sports Writers Club resident columnist – Collins Michael Nwokolo. Follow him on Twitter and Pinterest.
