Arsenal v Chelsea: FA Cup final preview, line-ups, predictions & live streaming


The FA Cup final!


Wembley hosts two of London’s biggest clubs on Saturday afternoon in what could be a humdinger of an occasion with potentially far reaching consequences.

Arsenal come into the game with all the pressure. How do they stop runaway Premier League champions Chelsea?

Plus, with a defence that has been significantly weakened.

Can Arsenal cause an upset?

The loss of Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel Paulista and Shkodran Mustafi this week has really hindered Arsenal’s preparations.

Kieran Gibbs looks like he will play after recovering from a thigh strain.

Per Mertesacker will come in for a seriously rare appearance. Yet, the German is the Arsenal club captain, is very experienced and won the World Cup.

Much, as ever, will depend on Alexis Sanchez. There are positives from recent games, after all the Gunners won seven of their last eight.

And, Arsenal have looked much better utilising a three at the back system, which brings us on to the masters of that particular formation…

Huge odds on Arsenal to beat Chelsea!

Chelsea look to clinch the double

Chelsea come into this FA Cup final as the favourites following a fantastic first season under Antonio Conte.

The Italian has been a revelation this season and so much of that is down to his tactical change after the at Arsenal.

Chelsea have not looked back since the 3-0 defeat at the Emirates and during their awesome run in the second half of the season beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Bridge.

Farewells?

As there has been for much of the season, pretty much all the uncertainty in London centres around Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger is out of contract after the FA Cup final. All reports suggest that the Frenchman will sign on for another two years.

Nevertheless, the future plans of Wenger, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez cast a shadow over this game.

Whether that will help or hinder Arsenal on Saturday at Wembley remains to be seen.

For Chelsea, John Terry is likely to start on the bench and Diego Costa will also be playing his final game for the Blues, if the constant chatter about China is to be believed.

Arsenal team news v Chelsea

The Gunners injury problems are all in defence with Koscielny suspended and Gabriel and Mustafi injured.

Petr Cech is tipped to start in goal, despite David Ospina playing a lot of cup games in recent years.

Arsene Wenger’s key decisions centre around the returning Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, who has arguably been Arsenal’s best player this season.

And, there is also a decision to make between Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud for the lone man up front role.

Chelsea team news v Arsenal

Chelsea’s back five picks itself.

Cesc Fabregas could well start next to N’Golo Kante but Nemanja Matic also has a big shout to play in midfield.

Up front, it feels like Pedro has edged out Willian for a starting spot in Chelsea’s biggest games.

Arsenal predicted starting XI v Chelsea




101 Great Goals predicts: Arsenal 1 – Chelsea 2

Surely Chelsea will have too much for Arsenal on the day at Wembley?

Going into this one Chelsea are the clear favourites to clinch just the 12th double in English football.

You have to worry for Per Mertesacker’s ability to stop a fired up Diego Costa…


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atheist model, 27, and her footballer, 26, fiance go to the High Court to demand legal recognition for their humanist wedding in just a month

Image
dailymail.co.uk May 27, 2017 9:25 AM A glamour model and international footballer have gone to High Court to demand legal recognition for their humanist wedding. Laura Lacole, 27, of Belfast, and Leeds United star Eunan O'Kane, 26, will tie the knot at the luxury four-star Galgorm Resort in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, on June 22. At the moment the non-religious wedding is 'legally meaningless' - but the desperate couple are battling for a one-off relaxation of the law so that they do not have to hold a separate civil ceremony. Glamour model Laura Lacole, 27, of Belfast, and Leeds United star Eunan O'Kane, 26, have gone to High Court to demand legal recognition for their atheist humanist wedding Ms Lacole and her partner will tie the knot at the luxury four-star Galgorm Resort in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, on June 22 Laura Lacole Ms Lacole, of Belfast, said: 'We are both humanists so we want to have a wedding ceremony that reflects who we are as peopl
Read more

Where is Omar Borkan Al-Gala? | The man who was “deported from Saudi for being too handsome”

Image
By Roqeebah Olaoniye You may remember his face from April 2013 when almost every news outlet reported that the Saudi Arabian Police deported three men from the Kingdom for being too handsome. “Earlier this week, three men were forcibly removed from a culture festival in Saudi Arabia after religious police deemed the men “too handsome”. – UK’s Independent reported on the 26th of April 2013 . The Independent’s report relied on an “Arabic language newspaper Elaph”, which reported that a “festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission [for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices] members that concerns that female visitors could fall for them.” One of these three illegally handsome men turned out to be Omar Borkan Al-Gala: Ridiculously handsome right? Within a few hours, the internet was ablaze with photos of identifying Omar as one of the deported handsome men. Omar did nothing to quell the rumours. In
Read more

Late Footballer Cheick Tiote’s Wives and Mistresses Were Fighting Over Him

Image
247nigerianewsupdate.co Jun 6, 2017 12:29 PM Here’s the 2014 report culled from Daily Mail;  “A married Premier League footballer who already has three children by his wife and mistress has just taken a second bride in his native Cote’Ivoire (pictured with second wife, Doukrou Laeticia ). Cheick Tiote, 28, who earns £45,000 a week playing for Newcastle United, reportedly wed Laeticia Doukrou in a traditional ceremony earlier this month, saying taking another wife was ‘nothing unusual’ given he is a Muslim. But news of the second wedding came as a surprise to his first wife, Madah, 25, who is said to have only found out about it on Facebook. Madah, who lives with Tiote and their two children in a £1.5m house in a village outside Newcastle, reportedly fainted with shock when she saw the photographs of her husband marrying another woman. Meanwhile the midfielder also has a one-year-old child with mistress, 33-year-old Zimbabwean Nkosiphile Mpofu, known as Nikki.  (pictured above).
Read more