Chelsea meet Arsenal on Wednesday night in the Europa League Final in Baku. The London Premier League rivals go into the final aiming to win their only piece of silverware this term.
Maurizio Sarri’s Blues qualified for the Champions League with a third-place finish. Chelsea’s previous chance to win silverware in the Carabao Cup Final saw them lose to Manchester City.
Arsenal missed out on Champions League qualification as they finished fifth in the league. Unai Emery’s team can qualify for next season’s Champions League with a win over Chelsea in the Europa League Final.
Europa League Final: Chelsea injury concerns
Both clubs go into the Europa League Final with injury concerns.
Chelsea’s latest player to drop out of contention for the final is defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante. The World Cup winner is suffering from a knee injury and will miss out on Wednesday night.
Kante joins centre-back Antonio Rudiger on the sidelines. Rudiger missed the final weeks of the Premier League season due to a knee injury he suffered against Liverpool in April.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are both long-term absentees as they recover from Achilles tendon injuries.
Europa League Final: Arsenal injury concerns
Arsenal also have key players sidelined through injury. The Gunners’ most significant absentee is midfielder Aaron Ramsey.
The midfielder has been out since mid-April and will be leaving the Emirates in the summer for Italy’s Juventus.
Arsenal have shown they can win in the Europa League without Ramsey. They will feel confident of winning the Europa League Final despite the Welshman’s absence.
Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding are also out of Wednesday night’s final.
Arsenal get Danny Welbeck bonus
Danny Welbeck is expected to return to the Arsenal team for the Europa League Final. The Englishman has been out since November with a broken leg.
Welbeck is out of contract in the summer and Arsenal will not extend a contract offer to the striker. He could make his final Gunners appearance against Chelsea in Baku.
Chelsea go into the final as leading sportsbooks’ favourite despite the ease in which Arsenal dispatched semifinal foes Valencia.
The two clubs split their season Premier League season with a win apiece. The home team won each match during the season.
