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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Tom Doyle

Arsenal vs Chelsea, FA Cup Final preview: Prediction, team news, TV channel, kick-off time, live stream, h2h, odds

The FA Cup will be won by a London team this year as city rivals Chelsea and Arsenal go head to head to Wembley.

Arsenal stunned holders Manchester City 2-0 in the semi-finals, while Chelsea saw off Manchester United 3-1 to leave Mikel Arteta and Frank Lampard within one game of glory in their first seasons in charge.

Chelsea's key aim was Champions League qualification, and a Premier League top-four finish means cup glory would be the icing on the cake for Lampard.

As for Arteta, there are definite signs of the coach imprinting his style and identity on Arsenal already but a worst League finish for 25 years has given the prospect of winning a record 13th FA Cup added importance.

Date, time and venue

The FA Cup Final is scheduled for a 5:30pm BST kick-off on Saturday, 1 August, 2020.

The match will be played behind closed doors at Wembley Stadium with no fans due to be present due to government guidelines regarding coronavirus.

How to watch

TV channel: The match will be shown live on Sky Sports Football, and is available via Now TV with a day pass for £9.99, or a three-month pass on offer for £25.

Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via SkyGo and the SkyGo app, with a mobile month pass available for £5.99.

Team news

Bernd Leno is aiming to return to training soon, but will not be ready for the final - and that means Emi Martinez will remain in goal.

Gabriel Martinelli (knee), Shkodran Mustafi (thigh), Pablo Mari (ankle) and Calum Chambers (knee) all remain sidelined by injury.

Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi are technically available, but it remains to be seen whether Arteta will restore either to his matchday squad.

N'Golo Kante is facing a race to return from a thigh injury. Even if he returns, it will most likely be as a substitute.

Billy Gilmour is out for the season after knee surgery, while Willian missed Chelsea's final League game against Wolves through injury.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal

Given the two sides' respective League form, Chelsea will be favourites. However, Arsenal's recent wins against Liverpool and Man City show they are capable of beating any English team on their day.

Much will depend on how Chelsea sit up. If they plan to dominate possession with a high line as both Liverpool and City did, they could be caught out by Arsenal - so Lampard will have to tweak his tactics.

Should Lampard invite Arsenal out, Arteta's likely gameplan of sitting back and countering will be tested to the limit.

Head to head (h2h) history and results

Arsenal have won on 76 occasions, Chelsea 65, with 59 draws shared.

Of their FA Cup clashes, Arsenal have won nine to Chelsea's five, with six draws.

Arsenal and Chelsea contested the 2017 FA Cup Final, with the Gunners winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey either side of a Diego C

Betting odds and tips

  • Arsenal to win: 11/8
  • Chelsea to win: 6/10
  • Over 3.5 goals: 23/10

Odds courtesy of Betfair Exchange. Click here to find out more.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Evening Standard

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