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Betting preview: Chelsea - Arsenal

The final match of the 2016/17 campaign in England takes place at Wembley this weekend, with Chelsea and Arsenal set to battle it out in the FA Cup final.

Antonio Conte's side, who secured the Premier League title earlier this month, start the match as favourites. Having won 30 matches and amassed 93 points in the top flight this term, the Blues will be confident of success on Saturday, as they seek to wrap up a domestic double in Conte's debut campaign. That would be a fantastic achievement by the former Juventus and Italy coach, whose players will also be desperate to get their hands on another piece of silverware.

Arsenal missed out on a top-four spot for the first time under Wenger last weekend and therefore head into the final with a desire to salvage their season. Whether victory in this competition would be enough to lift some of the pressure on the Gunners boss remains to be seen, but it is impossible not to respect Wenger's record in the FA Cup - if Arsenal get the better of Chelsea, the Frenchman will become the most successful manager in the history of the tournament with seven winner's medals.

Chelsea will have to make do without Ruben Loftus-Cheek (back), although the midfielder was unlikely to be involved anyway. The major selection issue for Conte is whether to field Cesc Fabregas or Nemanja Matic alongside N'Golo Kante in the engine room; the former offers greater creativity and invention, while the latter is physically stronger and contributes more in the defensive phase of play. Pedro Rodriguez will probably be preferred to Willian on the right flank, and Diego Costa and John Terry could both make their final appearances for the club (although the latter will have to settle for a place on the bench).

Arsenal will be unable to call upon the services of Laurent Koscielny (suspension), Santi Cazorla (leg) and Gabriel Paulista (knee) this weekend, while Alexis Sanchez (hamstring), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Kieran Gibbs (thigh) and Shkodran Mustafi (concussion) all face late fitness tests. The absence of defenders Koscielny and Gabriel - plus potentially Mustafi - could see Wenger shift to a four-man backline, while it will be interesting to see whether he opts for either the mobility of Danny Welbeck or the height of Olivier Giroud up top. As ever, Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will be fundamental to the Gunners' chances of success in the final third, while goalkeeper Petr Cech could be busy against his former club.

Taking everything into account, it is probably worth putting some money on Chelsea to win Wembley. Conte's charges have simply been stronger than all of their domestic rivals since switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation last September, while significant doubts remain about Wenger's approach in big matches. A Chelsea triumph is therefore the way to go here, while Pedro would be an astute choice to find the back of the net anytime

 

England - FA Cup Chelsea (n) vs Arsenal 27 May, 16:30 GMT 0

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