Europa League Final Preview

Arsenal, play Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku with both sides looking to end their season on a high for completely different reasons. This game is the first of the doubleheader of all English finals as three teams from London occupy both European finals.

For Unai Emery, he will be looking to add another Europa League crown to the three in a row he secured whilst he was the manager of Sevilla. Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri will be finally looking to break his duck of a Barron trophy spell by adding his first trophy to his managerial CV as rumours abound that he will be replaced before the start of next season.

There is some controversy surrounding this year's final which primarily has relation to where the final is being held. UEFA have allocated only 6000 tickets to each respective team from a stadium with a capacity of 69,870 which has priced fans out of a trip to see their team play due to the extreme difficulties that each set of fans have, getting into the country of Azerbaijan. Arsenal player Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be travelling with the squad ahead of the final also due to safety concerns over the Armenian and the historical tensions between Azerbaijan and the country of Armenia.

A club statement from Arsenal read: “We have thoroughly explored all the options for Micki to be part of the squad but after discussing this with Micki and his family we have collectively agreed he will not be in our travelling party." The former Manchester United player has been involved in 11 games in this season's competition having contributed three assists and has a pass completion rate of 82% in the competition.

Arsenal finished the season outside the top four for the third consecutive season, however in their first season under Emery they have shown signs of improvement to the side that was left with him under Arsene Wenger. Arsenal has become a more resilient side against the top six but their away record is still abysmal at best. At home this season in the league, The Gunners have only lost twice at home in the league season and have picked up wins over the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United.

Their Europa League campaign began in comprehensive style as Arsenal qualified from Group E with a total of 16 points from 18 available where they only dropped points at home against Sporting Lisbon with Qarabağ FK and FC Vorskla Poltava providing no competition whatsoever. In the round of 32, Arsenal saw off the challenge of Bate Borisov with a 3-1 win on aggregate after losing the away tie by a goal to nil. Onto the round of 16, where Arsenal was in the most trouble they had encountered in the competition having lost the first leg against Stade Rennais 3-1 but recovered in the second leg to win 4-3 on aggregate. Up next was Napoli who were considered to be the toughest opponents for Arsenal but they managed to fend off the challenge of the Italian side with a comfortable 3-0 win in the tie. Valencia was dealt with in the semi-final with a 7-3 aggregate win as Arsenal are in their first European final since 2006 and are looking to win their first European trophy since 1994.

Arsenal need to win this game in order to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season and failure to do so will result in the club joining Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers in next season's Europa League.

For Maurizio Sarri, it could well be his last game in charge of Chelsea as rumours and reports are suggesting that the former Napoli manager will be replaced before the start of the new season, with the likes of the recently available Massimiliano Allegri and Derby manager and club legend Frank Lampard in line to replace him. Sarri will be taking his Chelsea side into their second final this season, having guided them to the Carabao Cup final where they finished runners-up to Manchester City. This game could also be the last game for Belgian forward Eden Hazard in a Chelsea shirt as it is widely expected that the Chelsea starman will join Real Madrid in the summer having talked heavily for the last two years about how much he would love to join the club.

Chelsea finished fifth last season which meant they were starting life back in the Europa League having last won the competition in the 2012/13 season under Rafa Benitez. The Blues started off the competition with the same record Arsenal had with 16 points from the 18 available in the group stages. Chelsea finished seven points clear of second place Bate Borisov with MOL Fehérvár FC and PAOK. Chelsea then faced Malmo in which they dispatched the Swedish side 5-1 on aggregate in the round of 16. Dynamo Kyiv was up next as the London side disposed of them with ease with an 8-0 aggregate win. Chelsea was tested in the quarterfinals against Slavia Prague but their biggest test came against Frankfurt where it had to be decided on penalties.

Chelsea has already qualified for the Champions League because they finished third in the Premier League but you would feel that a trophy would provide some validation for Maurizio Sarri.

Stats

Arsenal have won three from their last five, whereas Chelsea have only won two from their fave in all competitions.

This season both sides have managed to gain a win over one another with Chelsea beating Arsenal at Stamford Bridge with Arsenal winning the reverse fixture

Olivier Giroud is the top scorer in the Europa League with 10 goals. The Frenchman has averaged 3.3 shots a game in this year's competition

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is Arsenal's top scorer in the Europa League and he has averaged 3.9 shots per game in this year's competition.