Chelsea v Arsenal Betting Tips: Europa League trophy heading to North or West London?
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Odds and preview for the Europa League final
Just seven miles separate Chelsea and Arsenal’s home grounds, but both sides travel in excess of 2,500 miles to Baku for tonight’s Europa League final.
Arsenal have one more chance to seal a Champions League spot for next season, with a victory in the Olympic Stadium in Baku their only route back to the big time.
Chelsea already have a Champions League spot for next season, but they’ve got the added motivation of another piece of European silverware and stopping a rival from picking up a CL place.
With little over 6,000 Europa League final tickets sold to fans between the two sides, there could be plenty of empty seats in the stadium tonight.
Prior to kick-off at 8pm, we’ve got all the odds and info right here, with the match live on BT Sport 2HD and the BT Sport YouTube Channel…
Head-to-Head
It’s one game apiece between the two London rivals so far this season, with Chelsea running out narrow 3-2 winners in the first match, before Arsenal won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in January.
Arsenal have had the better of the Blues more often than not in recent matches, with five wins in the last 10, compared to Chelsea’s two.
The Gunners also beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 2017 FA Cup final with an under-strength team, before winning the Community Shield in the 2017/18 season opener on penalties.
Likely XIs
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Alonso; Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley; Willian, Giroud, Hazard.
Arsenal: Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Chelsea have had somewhat of an injury crisis in the build up to the Europa League final, and are missing some of their key men.
N’Golo Kante has been listed as 50/50 to start by boss Maurizio Sarri, but he limped off the pitch in a public training session yesterday.
The Blues are also without Antonio Rudiger, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who have all undergone surgery on injuries picked up in the final few games of the season.
Eden Hazard is set to announce his future after the Europa League final, with the Belgian expected to join Real Madrid this summer. He’ll be looking to bow out with a bang.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery has a selection headache in goal. The Europa League final will be Petr Cech’s final professional football match and could start, though Bernd Leno is the Gunners first-choice keeper.
They’ll also be without Henrikh Mkhitaryan who hasn’t travelled to Azerbaijan due to safety reasons, with Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and Aaron Ramsey all ruled out through injury.
Danny Welbeck has been involved in training recently and scored a hat-trick in a behind closed doors match, but is expected to only make the bench.
Key Battles
For Arsenal, they’ll need to focus on stopping Hazard from running rings around their players again. He’s the centre-point for Chelsea’s creativity, and restricting the Belgian’s time on the ball could pay dividends.
As for Chelsea, it’s all about how their make-shift defence handles the pace and power of the Gunners front two. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have been on fire this season, and could prove too hot to handle for Andreas Christensen and David Luiz.
With no Kante in midfield, it’ll be down to Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic to provide cover for Jorginho in the defensive role, while also breaking through an Arsenal midfield likely to feature Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira.
Mesut Ozil sometimes struggles to turn up for the big occasion, but Emery will be hoping he can bring his A-game and cover for the missing Mkhitaryan.
Match Odds
The Blues come into the Baku showpiece as the favourites to notch another piece of European silverware at 8/11, but Arsenal shouldn’t be overlooked at 11/10 with a place in the Champions League at stake.
Chelsea are 23/20 to win the match in 90 minutes, with Arsenal slightly back at 5/2 to grab the win.
If the match goes the distance, you can get 9s on Chelsea winning in extra time, with Arsenal out at 12s. Or, either side are priced at 11/1 to win in a penalty shootout.
Oliver Giroud is expected to get the nod up top for Chelsea, and he’s currently sat on top of the goalscoring charts in this season’s tournament with 10 goals. He’s 11/2 to score first, or 15/8 anytime.
Hazard is the favourite to open the scoring for the Blues. That’s priced at 4/1¸or there’s 7/5 about him scoring anytime.
Aubameyang will want to add to his eight Europa League goals this tournament. He’s a 4/1 favourite to score first, or there’s 17/10 about the Gabonese striker scoring anytime.
There’s 21/10 on his French strike partner Lacazette scoring anytime.
View the latest Chelsea v Arsenal odds at Coral.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
