FA Cup final preview: Arsenal vs. Chelsea
By Billy Kerr
Arsenal will meet Chelsea in the final of the FA Cup on Saturday, May 27 at Wembley Stadium in London. Here’s what to expect.
Chelsea, fresh off their second Premier League title in three season, will look to win their first league and FA Cup double since 2009-10 when they take on Arsenal at Wembley this Saturday. Antonio Conte’s squad racked up 30 wins and 93 points in the league, scoring the second most goals and conceding the third fewest.
Arsenal missed out on next season’s Champions League by a single point, despite winning seven of their last eight matches. The Gunners are hoping to rescue their season and give manager Arsene Wenger a seventh FA Cup title.
The pressure on Wenger has increased dramatically after his failure to qualify the team for next season’s Champions League. Arsenal could be missing some key players for the final as well. Laurent Koscielny will be suspended after being sent off in Arsenal’s last match of the league season, while Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel Paulista are both injury doubts.
That means Per Mertesacker and Rob Holding may be the Gunners’ only available center-backs, which will only increase the pressure on Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in attack. To make matters even more intriguing, the Cup final could be both players’ last match for Arsenal as speculation about their future continues to swirl.
How did they get here?
Chelsea started their Cup run with a comfortable 4-1 win against League One Peterborough to a set up a fourth-round clash with Brentford. The Blues won that one just as comfortably, 4-0, and eased past Wolves, 2-0, in the fifth round before being drawn with Manchester United in the quarterfinals.
With United focused on kicking Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante scored the only goal of the match to put the Blues through to the semis, where they faced title rivals Tottenham in what proved to be one of the most important matches of their season.
Spurs came into the match full of confidence after cutting Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points. But Conte’s side rebounded well in a back and fourth game, running out 4-2 winners to advance to the final.
Arsenal had a similar path to the final, easing past mostly lower league opposition in the early rounds — Southampton were the only Premier League team they faced before the semis, and they won 5-0 — before drawing Manchester City in the semifinals.
Sergio Aguero gave City the lead in the second half, before Nacho Monreal’s equalizer 10 minutes later ultimately sent the match to extra time. Sanchez scored the winner for Arsenal in the 101st minute to lead the Gunners to their 20th FA Cup final, and third in four years.
How will they play?
Chelsea, unlike their opponents, have a full squad to choose from for the final, and it’s unlikely we’ll see many changes from the starting XI that dominated the Premier League. Conte will employ the 3-4-3 that has brought him so much success, relying on a backline of Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill to contain the threat of Sanchez and Ozil. In attack, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and either Pedro or Willian will have a field day against Arsenal’s depleted defense.
Arsenal’s starting lineup will depend on Mustafi’s availability. Wenger favored a 3-4-3 in the latter stages of the league season, but may opt for four at the back if he has only two fit center-backs. Alternatively, Nacho Monreal could play center-back alongside Mertesacker and Holding.
The Gunners will be looking to Sanchez to provide the heroics again, as he did in the semifinal against Manchester City. The Chilean scored 24 goals and added 10 assists in the league, his most impressive season to date with the London club. Olivier Giroud added 12 goals, while Ozil chipped in with nine assists. Arsenal will need to be on their game in the attacking third, given the makeshift nature of their defense.
Prediction
Chelsea’s attacking stars should have their way against Arsenal’s hobbled defense. Mertesacker and Holding aren’t terrible as far as backup options go, but they’re not the players Arsenal fans were hoping would face Hazard and co., who should thrive in this match. Wenger might have to pull out a few tactical tricks to win his seventh FA Cup. Whatever his plan is, if it is to be successful, it will depend heavily on Sanchez. The forward is certainly talented enough to decide a match like this, but then so are several of Chelsea’s players (and that’s not even to mention their superior backline). The Blues have won their past seven matches in a row in all competitions, and will run that streak to eight in the FA Cup final.