FA Cup Final Preview: Arsenal vs Chelsea, Team News, Line-Ups, Betting & Prediction

The 2016/17 campaign comes to a close tomorrow evening as Arsenal take on London rivals Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Chelsea will be looking to secure the domestic double after Antonio Conte sealed their fifth Premier League title in his first season in English football.

Many would say the Blues have Arsenal to thank for what’s turned out to be a memorable season as it was a 3-0 loss at the Emirates in September that was the turning point in their campaign with Conte switching to his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation following the humbling defeat.

From then on Chelsea were a force to be reckoned with as they went on a sensational run that saw them win the title with two games to spare following a win at West Brom two weeks ago.

Arsenal’s season has gone very differently since the win over Chelsea last year as Arsene Wenger’s side ended up finishing fifth in the table to miss out on Champions League football for the first time in 20 years.

Wenger’s future at the Emirates remains in doubt and while speculation suggests he’s expected to sign a new deal, there is still a chance this could be the Frenchman’s final match in charge so he’ll want to end his reign on a positive note.

Team News

Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of Shkodran Mustafi as the defender is still feeling the effects of concussion that he suffered against Sunderland last Tuesday.

The German international has been unable to train this week but Wenger is going to make a late decision over his availability so Per Mertesacker is on stand-by to deputise at the back.

The Gunners are certain to be without Laurent Koscielny through suspension while Gabriel has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with knee ligament damage so Wenger has problems in defence.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is fit after recovering from a hamstring injury but he may struggle to regain his place from Hector Bellerin while Kieran Gibbs is expected to start on the left after overcoming a thigh injury.

Alexis Sanchez is also set to start after making a swift recovery from a hamstring problem while Petr Cech is expected to get the nod ahead of David Ospina in goal.

As for Chelsea, they have no fresh injury worries to contend with so Conte has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

The Italian must decide whether to go with Pedro or Willian in attack while another big decision is who partners N’Golo Kante in midfield between Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: The Blues have been the best team in the country this season but Arsenal have an excellent record in the FA Cup having won it twice in the last three seasons. Obviously anything can happen in a one-off final but you have to think this is Chelsea’s to lose. The Gunners have a severely depleted defence while Chelsea are full strength so that could be the decider tomorrow. I fancy Conte’s men to edge it.

Betting Tips

Chelsea are the 3/4 favourites with the bookies but we can get new customers enhanced odds of 25/1 on the Blues and 60/1 on Arsenal – just click here to take advantage of these crazy odds [winnings as free bet, £1 max stake, T&C’s apply].

• Both teams to score at: 13/20 – a £10 bet would return £16.50
• Exact score of 2-1 Chelsea at: 15/2 – a £10 bet would return £85
• Hazard to score first in a 2-1 Chelsea win at: 22/1 – a £10 bet would return £230