Chelsea face London rivals Arsenal on Wednesday in the first of two all English European finals this week. Most of the talk in the build-up has surrounded off-field issues rather than what will happen on the pitch in Baku. Chelsea who have recently been handed a transfer ban are trying desperately to hang on to star player Edan Hazard amid interest from Real Madrid.
While they may also let manager, Maurizio Sarri go to Juventus no matter what the result on Wednesday night. Arsenal’s problems are only barely football related as midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been forced to miss out on the final due to political tensions. Mikhitaryan who comes from Armenia feels that there is too much danger in him travelling to Azerbaijan as the country currently does not allow Armenians to enter the country.
UEFA have been criticized over the situation and many have called on Arsenal and Chelsea to boycott the final after it was announced the match would still go ahead in Baku. Fans have also struggled with travelling issues too as Azerbaijan’s capital city struggles to deals with the demands a European final brings.
Back to the on-field entertainment and one thing is for sure the game is sure to provide fireworks. If you’re looking to up that excitement up even more, head over to an odds checker they offer a great choice of bookmakers to make your betting experience as easy as possible.
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Both teams have had up and down seasons with neither set of fans exactly ecstatic with their team’s form. Strangely enough, it seems most Chelsea fans are fed up already of Sarri and went him gone from the club despite them finishing third, securing Champions League football for next season, reaching a league cup final and the Europa League final.
Many are unhappy with his style of play otherwise known as “Sarri-Ball” and seem to think a change at the helm is needed. Arsenal too have had a strange season. Many would say finishing 5th and missing out on the Champions League would be a bad season for Arsenal given their recent success in qualifying for the tournament but under new manager Unai Emery they’ve shown some growth and even went on a 20-game unbeaten run during the season. The fact they’ve reached this final and still can qualify for the champions league by winning means we can’t fully judge their season as a success until after Wednesday night.
The two met twice this year in the Premier League with both teams winning the home fixture. Early in the year Chelsea, who looked like title challengers at the time survived an Arsenal come back to win a thriller 3-2. In the reverse fixture, Arsenal ran out comfortable 2-0 winners in a game they never really looked like losing.
Chelsea at the time were going through one of their worst patches whereas Arsenal were looking like a strong outfit as they often did at home this season. Both teams league form towards the end of the season was pretty bad with Chelsea just doing enough to secure a 3rd spot finish. Arsenals form in Europe however remained strong as they convincingly hammered Valencia 7-3 on aggregate. Chelsea had a tougher task eventually beating Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties.
In terms of team news, there are no recent injury worries for Arsenal whereas Chelsea are sweating over the fitness of midfield dynamo N’golo Kante after already losing fellow midfielder Loftus-cheek. The game is sure to be an attacking one as both teams have plenty of fire-power up front while also showing weaknesses at the back during the season.
If you feel you need an extra bit of thrill, rejoice! The Liverpool v Tottenham Champions League final is coming soon, in the meantime, you can check our preview of the game.
