FA Cup Final: Arsenal trembles before 'monster' Chelsea

With a defense riddled with injuries, the Gunners are facing many difficulties ahead of the fiery London derby with rivals Chelsea at Wembley.

The French "professor" surprised everyone when he revealed that Davis Ospina will be the starting goalkeeper in the FA Cup final, not veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech.

For Arsenal, the FA Cup is a saviour for a disappointing season. If they beat their city rivals, Wenger and his students will step onto the podium of glory at Wembley for the third time in 4 years.

Arsenal have shown to have a good relationship with the FA Cup in recent years.

Chelsea are also full of enthusiasm, wanting to create a double title, after racing to the finish line in the Premier League. Coach Conte's army is rated higher in terms of form and spirit, but Arsenal is also determined to overcome difficulties to escape the prospect of empty-handed.

Force situation

Arsenal face a personnel crisis in defence ahead of the final. Gabriel Paulista is a definite absentee due to a knee injury. While captain Koscielny is forced to sit out due to suspension.

Mustafi’s ability to play is also uncertain because he has not fully recovered. Most likely, coach Wenger will have to take a risk and put his trust in Mertesacker - who has only played 1 match this season.

In contrast to The Gunners, Chelsea has the strongest squad. Coach Conte is just wondering who to choose to start, between Willian and Pedro, Matic or Fabregas.

Head-to-head record

The Wembley clash was the 190th time the two London giants met. Arsenal were slightly better with 73 wins, while Chelsea sang the song of joy 62 times.

Conte will have the opportunity to compete with coach Wenger

However, in the last 5 years, the Gunners have often been at a disadvantage to Chelsea. Specifically, they won 2/5 of the most recent matches, including the 2015 English Super Cup.

The last time the two teams met in the FA Cup was the 2009 semi-final. Drogba scored the decisive goal as the Blues beat Arsenal 2-1.

Strategy

In the final stages of the season, Arsenal switched to a 3-back formation. Despite the absence of many key players in the defense, Wenger still wanted to apply the 3-4-2-1 formation to compete with Chelsea. At that time, the role of the wing pair Bellerin - Oxlade-Chamberlain will be extremely important.

On the other side of the front line, the 3-4-3 tactic has become the trademark of Coach Conte. The Blues machine is still running quite smoothly, solid in defense and sharp in attack.

According to VNN