So here it is. The culmination of another season and another cup final to look forward to. It really is a marvel that Arsenal Football Club continues to trend downwards in the league, but still manage to muster the determination and skill to reach their seventh final in eight years, a feat that is unrivalled by other London clubs. Arteta and the team put in an incredible and definitive performance against Man City, strong and resolute in defence and sharp on the counter. It was a performance akin to Simeone’s Atletico Madrid rather than the Arsenal of recent years, especially in the second half. It will most likely be our best performance of the season. But it will have to be a totally different sort of performance to beat Chelsea in the final. And Arsenal certainly has a lot more to lose than their London rivals.
I would expect Chelsea to be set up with less arrogance than Pep’s City side (although in the build-up to our first goal against City we displayed some arrogance of our own and it paid off), and will try and draw Arsenal into a place of false comfortability, and then quickly switch gears to try and catch us out in the midfield and swiftly punish us. This is a demoralising prospect, one which was evidenced in the 2-1 loss in Arteta’s second game in charge of the Gunners, where we were by all accounts the better side. I would hope Arteta keeps the memory of that game fresh in the minds of the players.
In terms of team set-up, I would be surprised if Arteta starts with anything other than 5 at the back, with David Luiz flanked by Tierney and Sokratis/Holding after the injury to Mustafi looks to keep him out till October (for the love of god not Kolasinac at CB). Personally, I would start Saka and Maitland Niles on opposing flanks. The selection of Saka is an obvious one, and Maitland Niles has combined well recently with forwards in recent weeks, even if his showings can be somewhat inconsistent. In the centre, the obvious pairing of Xhaka and Ceballos will hopefully remain unchanged. Inside right will presumably be Pepe, and on the left Aubameyang, with Lacazette linking up in the centre. I wouldn’t expect too much variation to this formation/line-up, as it seemed to work wonders both on the press and in possession against Man City and Liverpool. For Chelsea, I would expect them to remain somewhat unchanged from the side that defeated Wolves in the last game of the season, with Olivier Giroud almost certain to start. I hope he doesn’t put in the same performance that guided us to the FA Cup in 2017.
I would be remiss in not mentioning the fact that there will be no fan attendance at Wembley stadium. This is the first Cup final without fans and therefore a novel experience for everyone involved and could change the dynamics of the game. We will have to wait and see as to what effect, if any, this has. It is certainly a shame that Mikel Arteta’s first potential trophy as Arsenal manager would be held up in front of an empty stadium.
Finally, my personal prediction. With a fantastic FA Cup history and an added incentive for the team, I’m going for a narrow Arsenal win with plenty of goals. 3-2 to the Gunners after extra time. Knowing us, David Luiz will get the winner.
Written by Alec Taylor (@alectaylor97)
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