For the third year in a row, Chelsea closes the season with a final against Arsenal. What tactics can we expect from Unai Emery in this one?
Of all the candidates to ultimately replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Unai Emery was always a dark horse candidate at best. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, he became the Arsenal manager. And somewhat unsurprisingly, the master of the Europa League has made yet another Europa League final.
Perhaps because of their stumble against Rennes in Europe, Arsenal readjusted and focused almost exclusively on the Europa League. It cost them top four in the league but they got through a very hard Europa League run to the final. Now, for the third year in a row, the season ends with Arsenal versus Chelsea in a cup final. This one will be the biggest yet with much more on the line (at least from Arsenal’s perspective).
Tactically, Arsenal has been hard to peg down this season. They have common trends such as playing through the flanks and keeping possession short and crisp. But other than that, it has taken many forms as Emery has chopped and changed the starting XI and the formation to find the best fit.
More or less, Emery has settled on a 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-1-2 formation as of late. The latter is mainly to get Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on together while having a strong defensive base behind them. Mostly, Emery figures out which attackers he wants and then builds backwards from there.
Back in January, Emery borrowed from the “How to beat Sarri’s Chelsea” handbook and used a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. The diamond helps to clog up the midfield channels Chelsea aims to play through and then it allows the strikers to be in position to exploit the zonal defense at its weakest part: between the centerback and fullback. The 3-4-1-2 allows for a similar situation and Emery is almost guaranteed to use it as a result (this would also give him the ability to man mark Eden Hazard and still have coverage).
The formation will inform most of what Arsenal will do in all phases of the game. They will likely let Chelsea have the ball and they will look to progress it quickly to the strikers running in behind. That alone is a pretty surefire way to cause Sarri’s Chelsea issues but Arsenal has the added advantage of one of the world’s best playmakers (when he feels like it) behind two of the Premier League’s best strikers.
Chelsea has had nearly two weeks to prepare but are facing an injury crisis. Emery has also had two weeks, but had no post season friendly to keep match fit. He does, however, have pretty much any player available he would want.
This match is going to be very, very difficult if Sarri does not adjust his tactics at all. Even on a motivational level, this match will mean more for Arsenal than it will for Chelsea. Sarri will need to dig out whatever motivation he can find for the squad to see the Blues lift the trophy at the end. Add in a dash of tactical unexpectedness and Sarri may just lift his first career trophy over the master of the competition.