Chelsea VS Arsenal Match Prediction
2019-05-29
19:00:00
Chelsea
VS
Arsenal
Our Prediction Tip
Arsenal will win this match.
2019-05-2919:00:00 Arsenal will win this match.
Chelsea’s 3-2 home win at the start of this season is their only win in their last eight games against Arsenal. They lost the last time they met the Gunners in a major final – the 2017 FA Cup final – and were also defeated in the two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final last season. In total, Arsenal have 77 wins to Chelsea’s 63 in this fixture, with 57 draws.
Pedro and Alvaro Morata gave Chelsea a 2-0 lead in their first meeting this season before Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi pulled it back before half-time. Marcos Alonso’s late goal secured a 3-2 home win. In the reverse fixture, at the Emirates, Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny scored first-half goals in a 2-0 Arsenal win.
Here are the results of their last five competitive meetings:
Jan 19, 2019: Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea
Aug 18, 2018: Chelsea 3-2 Arsenal
Jan 24, 2018: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
Jan 10, 2018: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
Jan 03, 2018: Arsenal 2-2 Chelsea
While both teams lacked consistency in the Premier League – Arsenal missing out on the top four as a result – they have stood out among the favourites for the Europa League from the start.
Both have had to overcome some tough opposition already – Napoli and Valencia for Arsenal; Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-finals for Chelsea.
In the latter, Chelsea snuck through on penalties whereas Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired Arsenal past Valencia much more convincingly.
It is that which could give Arsenal the edge in this fixture too. They have a good recent record against Chelsea and finished the season with Aubameyang in red-hot goalscoring form.
Three goals in the semi-final second leg and two on the last day of the league season show exactly what he can do.
Debates about this game will largely centre on the decision to hold it in Baku – costing Henrinkh Mkhitaryan a place in the team as a result.
But, on the pitch, there is little between the two on their day. The biggest difference is, Arsenal have looked more convincing in front of goal and Aubameyang and Lacazette can make the difference.
Chelsea finished higher than Arsenal in the league and are slight favourites with the bookmakers as a result. Chelsea are a best price of 7/5 to win with Bet365, while Arsenal are a best price of 9/4 to win – also with Bet365.
Arsenal beat Chelsea when they last met and looked more convincing in the semi-finals of this competition, however. Arsenal are 6/5 with Bet365, Ladbrokes, Betfair, Paddy Power and 888sport to lift the Europa League trophy.
Both teams to score has been set at 8/11 with Betfair, while an Arsenal win and BTTS is as high as 5/1 with Bet365. Over 2.5 goals will return 23/25 with 888sport.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished the season in red-hot form and he is 13/8 to score at any time with Ladbrokes, Betfair and Paddy Power. Alexandre Lacazette is 21/10 with 10Bet and Ladbrokes.
Olivier Giroud is the competition’s joint-top goalscorer this season, meanwhile, and he is 21/10 to score at any time with Paddy Power, 10Bet, Betfair and Ladbrokes against his former team.
Arsenal looked more convincing than Chelsea in their respective semi-finals and, needing to win to secure Champions League football next season, in-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can lead them to victory.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek suffered an Achilles injury as Chelsea beat New England Revolution in a charity friendly and will miss this match as a result. Antonio Rudiger and Callum Hudson-Odoi are also definitely out, but N’Golo Kante is set to return – he will likely replace Loftus-Cheek in a midfield three with Jorginho and one of Ross Barkley or Mateo Kovacic. Olivier Giroud has tended to start up front in place of Gonzalo Higuain in this competition.
Olivier Giroud – Joint-top scorer in the Europa League so far this season, with the French striker having netted ten times in the competition.
Eden Hazard – Set up the Blues’ goal in the semi-final second leg and converted the winning penalty. The Belgian has been their best player again this season.
N’Golo Kante – Maurizo Sarri’s system has not necessarily played to the World Cup winner’s strengths, but his return from injury is a huge boost in midfield.
While their most recent match was a 3-0 friendly win against New England Revolution, in competitive fixtures Chelsea have drawn five of their last six games. That includes the 1-1 draw in each leg of their semi-final with Eintracht Frankfurt - Pedro scoring in Germany and Ruben Loftus-Cheek netting at home – before their penalty shoot-out win. Following that game, they closed out the league season with a goalless draw at Leicester.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has elected not to travel to Azerbaijan for the final after concerns for his safety given his Armenian nationality. Aaron Ramsey is out injured, while Hector Bellerin (knee), Rob Holding (knee) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) are long-term absentees. Petr Cech will start in goal for the final game of his career. With Mkhitrayan and Ramsey definitely out, it could be an unchanged team from the semi-final second leg, with Mesut Ozil playing in the hole behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Finished the season in fine goalscoring form, with his hat-trick at Valencia helping him to seven goals in the last four games.
Alexandre Lacazette – Three goals across the two legs of the semi-final leg have taken him to 19 for the season in addition to 13 assists.
Laurent Koscielny – Scored in the league win against Chelsea and the Frenchman will lead the Arsenal defence against countryman and former team-mate Olivier Giroud.
Arsenal secured their place in the Europa League final by beating Valencia 7-3 on aggregate. Alexandre Lacazette scored twice in a 3-1 first-leg win, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring late on, before the Gabonese striker fired a hat-trick in the second leg as Arsenal won 4-2; Lacazette scored the other. In between, however, a 1-1 draw with Brighton in the league – in which Aubameyang scored again – cost them a top-four place in the Premier League. That was despite rounding off the season with a 3-1 win at Burnley, in which Aubameyang netted twice more and Eddie Nketiah sealed victory.
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