Chelsea v Arsenal, one of the standout fixtures in the Premier League season but on Wednesday 29 May the teams will abandon their usual battle for points and go toe-to-toe to decide the destination of this year’s Europa League trophy. Here are our top Europa League Final betting tips.
One half of an all-English European football final double-header, with Liverpool and Tottenham meeting a few days later in the Champions League final. This match won’t upstage the main event, of course, but it will serve as a delightful starter and the Olympic Stadium in Baku will be backed to capacity.
British football fans will flock to Azerbaijan’s largest city for one of the biggest football matches of the season. Those who can’t make it to the venue to soak up the atmosphere can do the next best thing and follow the play live on BT Sport from 8.00pm.
Critics Have Been Harsh on Sarri
There’s talk in the British media regarding the future of Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri and many betting firms have the Italian as one of the favourites to be next sacked by a Premier League club and that’s something that strikes us as very strange indeed. The gaffer hasn’t had the best first season in English football but by no means has he had a bad one. A top four finish in the Premier League – finishing third behind Man City and Liverpool, ahead of Tottenham – and a place in the Europa League final and League Cup final is no mean feat.
Perhaps the reason many fans and critics have been harsh on Sarri is the results haven’t been as strong as they perhaps should’ve. Chelsea finished the 2018/19 season with 21 wins and nine draws against eight defeats. They also managed just one win in their last five league starts and that made them very lucky to sneak through the back door and finish in the top four, thankful for the poor finishes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Man Utd. Doubters remain but Sarri and his coaching staff would go some way to silencing them by lifting European football’s second most important trophy.
That’s just what bookmakers expect The Blues to do and the money men at all major firms have priced Chelsea as favourites to win the match in 90 minutes. Agree? You’ll get 27/20 at William Hill and that’s one of the more generous offers made, some of the competition happy to keep their cards close to their chest in a match that really could go either way. Chelsea to lift the trophy is 4/6 at Ladbrokes and that covers backers against the risk of extra-time and penalties.
Gunners Take Their Final Shot
Arsenal weren’t as fortunate as their London rivals and that means they must win this match to secure their place in the Champions League next season. If they do that, English football will have five representatives, the top four of the Premier League, as always, boosted by the winner of the Europa League. That will give the standing of the British game a serious boost in the eyes of the watching world and help push it back towards the best league competition in the world slot.
Arsenal had every chance of landing a top four finish in the Premier League this term, but they have been poor since the turn of the year and ended with season stats of 21 wins and seven draws against 10 defeats. Sloppy points dropped cost them a prize place and, regardless of the result in this match, there’s much work to be done during the summer if the club are to return to former glories. For as disappointing as the season has been, Arsenal did take four points from their last two games to finish just one off bitter rivals Tottenham in fourth.
Unai Emery’s men wrapped up the domestic campaign and warmed up for this match with a 3-1 win over Burnley on the road. Aubameyang has been in sublime scoring form of late and added a brace that day before Nketiah chipped in with a third deep into stoppage time at the end of the match. A late goal, but it did little to change the course of the game as Burnley managed just one, scored by Barnes on 65 minutes. The win was achieved despite Emery making nine changes to the side that knocked Valencia out in the Europa League semi-finals.
Means More to Arsenal
This match means more to Arsenal as Chelsea have already secured their slot in the Champions League. Will that show in the final result? The Gunners are 2/1 at Ladbrokes, a draw 9/4 with the same bookie. To lift the trophy, Arsenal are 6/5 with Bet365 and that’s market best price.
Flicking through the recent trends and we see the teams have one win each from their previous two meetings this season. Chelsea won 3-2 at Stamford Bridge back in August and Arsenal returned the favour with a 2-0 win at the Emirates in January. The trends are a bit of a mixed bag, with both teams scoring in only three of the last six matches involving these sides. Taking into consideration the nerves of a European final, we’ll avoid making a decision on both teams to score, although the betting stands at 4/5 Yes – 19/20 No at Bet365. It seems traders are no clearer on that one.
Sticking with the trends and we note two of the last three meetings have produced over 2.5 goals and that could be the smart play here. Back over 2.5 at even money with Bet365 or, if you expect a low-scoring contest, go for under the same mark which is available at 4/5 with the same firm. The former looks worth a spot in your accumulators. As this match means more to Arsenal than Chelsea, we are taking the value about The Gunners. There’s not a lot between these sides, so the bigger price is easier to trust.