An Arsenal reprieve or an Eden Hazard swan song? Europa League final preview
Harry Jones
May 29, 2019
As Europa League final approaches, the fact that there is a football match to be played has been a mere backdrop to fans’ outcries over UEFA’s decision to host the final in Baku.
These complaints, whether they concern player safety, a lack of tickets allocated to fans, or a lack of available transport routes to Baku, appear to be fully justified. However, these complaints should not distract from what promises to be a fine spectacle - an open, emotionally charged game between two local rivals with plenty of potential long-term ramifications. For Chelsea, it appears to be their best player of the last decade’s swan song. For Arsenal, it is an opportunity for a reprieve in a season where they threw away a simple route to Champions League football as a result of their own defensive shortcomings.
On paper, there is little to separate the two sides; they finished two points apart in the Premier League with each of their encounters won by the home side. The key question, therefore, is whether Arsenal’s extra incentive to win and secure Champions League qualification will offset Eden Hazard’s desire to end his Chelsea career with a trophy.
Although there has been no official confirmation of his departure, Hazard’s heart appears to be set on a move to Madrid. If he showcases his best form, it is hard to make a case for an already flimsy Arsenal defence stopping him.
One question to have already been answered is Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s lack of participation, as he has not travelled due to safety concerns. What, on the surface, appears to be a blow for Arsenal may well turn into a symbolic boost, an extra motivation to win for a player who was unlikely to have started the match.
In fact, Chelsea’s list of absentees promises to be far more detrimental; Callum Hudson-Odoi, Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will all be unavailable due to injury. Loftus-Cheek has been instrumental in galvanising the Chelsea midfield and helping them secure a top four finish, whereas Rudiger is arguably Chelsea’s best defender and is most equipped to neutralise Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang’s pace.
Another significant doubt is N’Golo Kante, who on Tuesday, Sarri described as ’50-50’ to play. He took part in yesterday’s open training session but had to leave the field early with both Sarri and the club doctor looking concerned. If Kante were also to be ruled out, Chelsea would not only be without four starters, but in Rudiger, Kante and Loftus-Cheek, they would be missing three of their best players.
Still, Sarri will not deviate from his trademark 4-3-3 shape, possibly with a midfield of Jorginho, Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic. In this regard, Sarri is unlike Unai Emery, whose starting formation is anyone’s guess. In the Europa League, he typically deploys a 5-2-1-2 with marauding full-backs and Mesut Ozil sitting behind Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. However, Premier League sides have found the most success against Chelsea by playing a midfield diamond with the furthermost midfielder man-marking Jorginho.
Indeed, Arsenal used this same diamond when they comfortably defeated Chelsea 2-0 in January, with Aaron Ramsey stifling Jorginho’s passing range. This formation may disrupt Chelsea’s possession-based game but will put Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac, who are routinely caught out of position in a back-four, at risk. This back-four and midfield diamond would essentially be an attempt to disrupt Chelsea’s natural game, but a back-five would look to expose the flaws within it, conceding the lion’s share of possession while attempting to hit them on the break.
Finally, there is the question of Petr Cech. Cech has started each of Arsenal’s Europa League games, but many have called for Bernd Leno, Arsenal’s first-choice keeper, to start. The matter is complicated further by the fact that it’s the final game of Cech’s illustrious career before he is likely to join the opposition’s backroom staff. Still, it would be a surprise to see Cech so mercilessly benched.
So who will come out on top? This game certainly feels much harder to predict than Saturday’s all-English European final. Arsenal have the extra incentive to win and a cleaner bill of health, but Chelsea have more big-game know-how and the best player on the pitch. This writer is inclined to say Arsenal will edge it, but is also terrified that Hazard will make a mockery of his prediction.
Still, it is difficult to ignore the simple fact that Arsenal need it more. It is has been widely reported that their summer budget will go from £40 to 100 million if they were to qualify for the Champions League. In terms of Emery’s rebuild, those extra funds could be the difference between buying a centre-back to build a side around or simply another stopgap.
In short, Wednesday night will be this season’s definitive test on whether Unai Emery’s Arsenal are worthy of shaking the stereotype synonymous with Wenger’s final years, that they are a team that crumbles on the big stage, and correct the shortcoming that ultimately cost him his job by returning to the Champions League.
Photo by @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London/Wikimedia Commons