The grand finale of the English football season takes place on Saturday as Chelsea and Arsenal make the relatively short to Wembley to contest the FA Cup Final.
Chelsea of course go into this match in pursuit of a league and cup double in what has been a fantastic first season for manager Antonio Conte. The Italian manager has his side in brilliant form going into this match with seven back-to-back wins in all competitions.
Unsurprisingly, the Blues have been in excellent form in both boxes this campaign with 85 scored and just 33 conceded in their 38 league matches. Additionally, they have found the back of the net an incredible nine times in their last two outings. In terms of the FA Cup, Chelsea have averaged three goals per game in their five outings whilst they have also kept three clean sheets in the process.
This will be Antonio Conte’s first final as Chelsea boss and, in fact, he does not have a great record in cup competitions from his time in Italy with no cup final visits during his eight years in his homeland. However, he will take confidence from the fact they put in a good performance against Premier League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final at Wembley a few weeks ago.
A big story going into this match for Arsenal is whether it will be legendary manager Arsene Wenger’s last game in charge. Either way, despite the pressure surrounding the Frenchman at the moment, Arsenal are on a good run having recorded five consecutive wins.
The Gunners have been strong in front of goal recently with nine goals in their last three outings. However, there will be huge concerns at the back. Arsenal have long been labelled as ‘defensively weak’ and the signs are not good going into this match with two of their main central defenders in Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel missing the Wembley showdown. Former Germany international Per Mertesacker, who has only played 37 minutes of football all season due to injury, may have to come in to patch up the shaky back-line.
Arsene Wenger of course has a good record in FA Cup finals in recent years, winning each of the last two finals they have entered whilst Saturday’s match gives him an opportunity to win the FA Cup for an unprecedented seventh time. However, this match against the in-form Premier League champions could be one of his toughest finals yet.
Chelsea are the favourites here and with good reason given their form. It is also worth noting that Chelsea have beaten two of the country’s biggest sides on their FA Cup run whilst Arsenal had to rely on extra time to beat Manchester City. Unfortunately, at 4/5, backing Conte’s men to win doesn’t make great appeal. Picking the winner of a cup final is often tough. Having said that, Chelsea should have enough about them to get over the line and, given Arsenal’s defensive frailties, could easily score a couple of goals in the process and so ‘2-3 Total Goals’ looks like a decent bet. Such a selection also allows for flexibility on the result.
More tips can be found here.