The 19/20 iteration of football’s oldest cup competition comes to its close on Saturday, as London’s two biggest clubs meet at Wembley. Arsenal take on Chelsea in a repeat of the 2017 final, in which Arsenal won 2-1 thanks to an Aaron Ramsey strike. It’ll be the second time these two sides have met in a final in just over 12 months, following Chelsea’s humiliation of The Gunners in the Europa League final in Baku last Summer.
Changes
Things have changed A LOT for both teams since that day in Azerbaijan though. Both Arsenal and Chelsea have sacked their respective managers who were in the dugout on that evening and now have two of the Premier League’s most exciting young managers at the helm – Mikel Arteta and Frank Lampard.
The Route to the Final
Neither team has had a particularly easy route to Wembley this year, with both clubs having to beat Manchester teams in the semi’s a couple of weeks ago. Arsenal’s task to beat City as Arteta squared up against his old mentor Pep looked like an impossible task, but an uncharacteristically disciplined performance saw them grind out a 2-0 win thanks to two predatory strikes from captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
For Chelsea, they had to get past a rejuvenated United side who have been scoring for fun since the restart and the inspired signing of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon. However, errors from MUFC’s keeper David De Gea helped Chelsea cruise to a 3-1 victory on the day.
Red vs Blue
Recent meetings between these sides would suggest the final is likely to be filled with goals or drama or both. The teams met twice in a month in the Premier League last season with Arsenal dominating the first half at the Emirates before running out of steam and losing 2-1. A few weeks later at Stamford Bridge the teams drew 2-2 after David Luiz got sent off against his former club and a late goal from Hector Bellerin secured Arsenal the point just minutes after Azpilicueta thought he’d won it for the Blues.
These two teams are both blessed with great attacking options and are capable of devastating attacking football but defensively is where they have lacked in the Premier League.
Get ready for goals.
Watch the FA Cup Final on Saturday 1st August on BBC One and BT Sport. KO is at 5:30PM. Catch up with everything football over at @jdfootball. You can shop both Arsenal and Chelsea away kits here.
