Thursday, October 10, 2024

FA Cup Final: Team News & Likely Line-Ups For Arsenal & Chelsea

You would think Arsenal travelling to Wembley for a third FA Cup final in four years would throw up endless celebrations from the fans.

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But with the future of the club still in doubt, what happens on the pitch is purely a distraction for the Gunners, as Arsene Wenger is yet to make a decision on his future.

If that wasn’t enough for the supporters to deal with, they’re already aware Arsenal are unable to line up with their strongest team possible on Saturday.

Wenger will be handed a selection dilemma in whether or not to keep hold of the back-three formation that has proven to be so successful in recent weeks.

Chelsea have settled their Premier League celebrations now and Antonio Conte is ready to add a second trophy to the cabinet in his debut year at The Blues.

Arsenal Team News

Arsenal will be without arguably their most important player in the squad, Laurent Koscielny, who sits out after a ridiculous red card challenge last weekend.

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His immediate replacement, Gabriel, is also unavailable after sustaining a nasty knee injury that will leave him out of action for up to eight weeks.

Reports suggest Shkodran Mustafi could make a last-minute comeback to feature in defence. He’s still being assessed and Wenger will make a late decision.

It looks as if David Ospina will be handed a shock call-up after Petr Cech picked up a slight injury in the final stages of training on Friday morning.

The good news is that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs are both set to feature, but this will be their first game back from injury.

Arsenal Absentees: S. Cazorla (ankle), L. Koscielny (suspended), Gabriel (knee), S. Mustafi (doubt – concussion), P. Cech

Arsenal’s Likely Line-Up

Goalkeeper: David Ospina

Defence: Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal

Midfield: Hector Bellerin, Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Kieran Gibbs

Attacking Midfield: Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil

Centre Forward: Danny Welbeck

Chelsea Team News

Fresh from their title win, Antonio Conte has the ability to mix his squad around at free will because there are no injuries to deal with.

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The only problem he’ll have is getting the right line-up for Wembley, with Pedro, Willian and Victor Moses all fighting for a place at wing-back.

Diego Costa is fit and raring to go in what could be his final game in a Chelsea shirt, whilst John Terry is expected to feature on the bench.

Former Gunner, Cesc Fabregas, is also in contention to start after the fantastic form he’s been in recently, with Kante and Matic still options at CM.

Chelsea’s Likely Line-Up

Goalkeeper: Courtois

Defence: Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill

Midfield: Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso

Attacking Midfield: Hazard, Pedro

Centre Forward: Costa

All of the action kicks off on BBC1 or BT Sport on Saturday afternoon, with kick-off at 5.30pm. Arsenal will be playing in red, Chelsea in blue.

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