Chelsea vs. Man U: Predictions for the overlapping finales at Wembley
Chelsea’s season – and perhaps Antonio Conte’s Chelsea career – concludes today at Wembley. How will the finale play out for the Blues?
Jose Mourinho is the master of finals. Antonio Conte has never won a final as a manager. Mourinho will part any number of busses. Chelsea will have to hope their top scorers bother with the effort. This will go well.
Scott Brant: Chelsea 2 – 1 Manchester United. It will be a very sad day even with a win. With doubts over Antonio Conte’s future and the end of the season, boredom will set in days after. Looking for players like Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante to be the dominant factors for the Blues. Hazard has had a lot to say about signings and contracts, so a world class performance is expected because of that. Jose will undoubtedly “Jose” this match up, Conte will hopefully have something planned to defeat United and raise the trophy. Probably his last act as Chelsea manager.
Barrett Rouen: 1 – 2. Mourinho does not lose cup finals and Conte doesn’t win them. The boys go out and embarrass the club, the supporters, themselves and Conte all at once and are too out of touch to even notice it one final time before a very welcome break from their annoying week-in and week-out bull.
Abhishek Pancholi: 2 – 1. After falling behind to an early goal, Conte lights a fire under the players’ bottoms for the last time. This results in a two-goal blitz around the 60th minute, with Giroud and Willian getting on the scoresheet.
Kevin Peacock: 1 – 2 (AET). There’s no escaping the inescapable. Antonio Conte’s final game in charge of Chelsea ends in a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of his old nemesis Jose Mourinho, who gleefully fires the final nail in Conte’s Chelsea coffin. After a 1-1 draw in normal time and a dour period of extra-time prolonging the agony, United triumph as Conte quietly leaves the Wembley turf.
George Perry: 1 – 0. Both teams do everything they can to let the other have the ball, at times even just letting the ball sit on the midfield line while all the players retreat into their defensive shape and just stare at each other from 30 yards apart. The game is in a Verdun-level of stalemate after 50 minutes, compelling Antonio Conte to make his substitutes very early. Giroud is first off the bench in the 84′, and scores in the 86′. After the trophy presentation Antonio Conte channels The Rock, as he walks the cup over to Roman Abramovich, shines it up good and nice, turns it sideways and….
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