Nothing says Chelsea on the eve of a European final like players getting into a dispute and the coach throwing a strop during a public training session. Actually, that doesn’t sound like Chelsea at all, at least not before this season.
Maurizio Sarri had enough time after his pre-match press conference to extricate his foot from his oral orifice and then use said lower extremity to kick his hat high into the air as he stompy-footed his way off the pitch. Who knew he had such technical abilities? World’s first r*****a-manager, mayhaps? Here are some predictions.
Scott Brant: Chelsea 1 – 1 Arsenal AET (Chelsea on pens). Most finals are typically very defensive affairs – nobody wants to make a mistake and give the opposition an advantage. The Blues, fortunately, have a secret weapon, one Eden Hazard. And it just so happens this will likely be his last match for the club, so he should be extra motivated to go out with a bang.
Hazard will draw the match level late and score the final penalty to win it all. The fairy tale ending is unlikely, but a guy can dream. It would be amazing if our last memories of Hazard were him securing a Europa League title on his way out the door. Here’s to not allowing Arsenal the opportunity to raise a cup.
Karan Saini: 2 – 1. I know Arsenal have the upper hand in the game, a better squad at their disposal and have had a better run into the finals, but I believe Chelsea can work their way around everything and get the win. The Blue’s defence will be in deep trouble without Antonio Rudiger and potentially without N’Golo Kante.
Abhishek Pancholi: 1 – 4. I was going to predict a 2-1 loss before Maurizio Sarri’s baffling press conference, but hearing him suggest that a random Serie B game was more important to him than the final of the Europa League turned my prediction into a 3-1 loss.
Then I saw Marlboro Man lose his head in front of the TV cameras, storm off like a petulant child, chuck his hat on the ground in anger, kick that hat into the stands and leave in the middle of an open training session.
Simply put, that conduct is not befitting a Chelsea manager. Consequently, I have now decided to “upgrade” the prediction for Sarri’s last game in-charge to a 4-1 humbling. Thankfully, there won’t be too many fans to watch it in the stadium.
The only hope I have from the game is that the dormant Chelsea DNA comes to the fore yet again, and turns the game on its head. Oh, and that Roman Abramovich, fuming after watching his head coach bring more shame to the club, fires another Italian in the tunnel immediately after the game.
Rupert Meadows: 3 – 2. The two Premier League matchups this season ended 3-2 to Chelsea and 2-0 to Arsenal. This is a pretty good indicator of what to expect.
Arsenal’s attack can be relied upon to score a few goals, and at times it feels like Chelsea flip a coin before the game to see if they feel like having an attack that can actually link up and win games. The difference in this fixture is that Hazard will be raring to win a European trophy in what will most likely be his last game for the Blues, and Arsenal don’t have the right personnel to keep him at bay.
It should be a cagey, end-to-end game with lots of chances, but one in which Chelsea eventually come out on top.
George Perry: Maurizio Sarri said last week his first season should be judged in its entirety, not just on the Europa League final. I agree with that.
Likewise, there’s no reason for me to make a prediction about this game. I’ve been right about damn near everything for this season in its entirety. More so, in fact, since we started covering Maurizio Sarri last May.
Kevin Peacock: 3 – 1 (AET). Under normal circumstances, I’d say Chelsea don’t lose finals – well, not many. I’m not sure we’re experiencing normal right now, though. Divided players, divided fans, divisive manager and an owner out of reach and possibly out of touch.
The road to Baku has been a long and hard one in many ways, not least for the supporters brave enough to make the trip. This is a final, though, and despite the aforementioned issues, Chelsea do have a winning mentality on the big day. With two English teams who know each other so well, it’s bound to be edgy and neither side will want to blink first.
I don’t predict defeats, so I’m going with a win after extra-time with Eden Hazard dancing around Arsenal’s defence one last time.
Barrett Rouen: 0 – 3. Ordinarily I am against betting against Chelsea on principle, but this isn’t Chelsea. They may wear the shirts but they lack everything else.
This group of shirt-wearers have shown time and time again they are never going to rise to the occasion. Hazard will be excellent because he understands it will be great for his legacy, but the rest will likely drag him down unless he has an out-of-body experience of some sort.
The Blues have qualified for the Champions League and secured their bonuses so they won’t give a Courtois, whereas Arsenal are still chasing a Champions League spot and will want to represent Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
I have literally no expectations for this team or club as things stand.
Nate Hofmann: 0 – 2. Given the injuries, weird press conferences and apparent training ground meltdowns – not to mention the general weirdness of a European final in a place that stretches the boundaries of what can feasibly be considered “Europe” -it’s hard to come up with many reasons for optimism from Chelsea’s perspective.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have plenty of things in their favor: the motivation to earn a Champions League berth, a player whose mere presence in Azerbaijan was deemed a risk to his own safety, and a manager who has an uncanny knack for winning this particular competition. Considering this is a European cup final against one of the club’s biggest rivals, there doesn’t seem to be much excitement or anticipation.
Perhaps it’s the distance, or the transfer ban, or the injuries, or the potential search for a new manager, or the ownership situation, or the dying embers of the stadium renovation plans, or the… yikes. Things are bleak. At this point, a long summer break is the only real light at the end of the tunnel.
To (pedantically) quote T.S. Elliot, “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.”
Sourav Mahanty: 0 – 2. With Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi and possibly N’Golo Kante injured, Chelsea will not be fielding their best XI in Baku. And after the bust-up that took place yesterday in training, it is very hard imagine the team morale being very high at the moment.
While anything can happen in finals, it has been a good while since the Blues beat a top six opponent away from home and I do not see that changing against Arsenal in an European final.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 2 – 1. While it is worth noting that Unai Emery has won this competition three times, that will not guarantee him the trophy this time. Chelsea to go behind first from an Alexandre Lacazette goal, then pull it back just before the 90′.
Extra time will not contain a lot of clear cut chances, but Chelsea will find a way to throw out the game plan and survive through sheer will, as they’ve always done, scoring a goal in the second half of extra time. The Chelsea defense will have to be the deciding factor for the outcome of this match, especially if Sarri decides to start Gonzalo Higuain.
Chelsea to win the Europa League in Baku, Arsenal to go back home to their mummy. Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso (because why not) to score the goals for Chelsea.