Wednesday night will be the first London derby in a European final. Chelsea and Arsenal will both travel just under 2,500 miles to Baku in the hunt for Europa League glory.
Chelsea have already won the competition back in 2013 under Rafael Benítez and have already gained qualification for next years Champions League.
However, the pressure is on for Unai Emery’s Arsenal who are yet to win a European trophy and with the Gunners only managing a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, defeat in Baku will mean no Champions League football next season and a return to Thursday night football.
In this tactical analysis, we will look at how the Europa League could be won.
Predicted Line Ups
In the Europa League this season, Emery has opted to play with a 3-5-2 formation. However, playing against English opponents don’t be surprised to see him swap to a back four in which he has done in the league this season. Petr Čech has been the choice in European competition for Emery this campaign, however, Bernd Leno may be selected for the final. Emery likes to be solid in midfield and have two central midfielders.
This could be Lucas Torreira and Mattéo Guendouzi who have both been spectacular in their debut seasons at the Emirates, but Granit Xhaka could also play a part. It is almost certain that Emery will play with a front two which will most properly be Alexander Lacazette and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. However, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is controversially not part of the squad due to political issues so this may pave the way for Mesut Özil who has not been favoured by Emery this season.
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