All eyes turn to London this Sunday morning for the London derby FA Cup final between newly crowned EPL champions Chelsea and fifth placed Arsenal. All other things being equal, Chelsea would still be warm favourites to defeat Arse Wenger’s Arsenal for the last domestic trophy of the the English season, finishing 18 points clear on the table, with an EPL record setting 30 wins in a 38 game season.

But the fallout from the last couple of league rounds tilts the scales even further in the Champions’ favour with Arsenals defence hit by injuries in the lead up to the final.

In contrast, Antonio Conte will have the luxury of almost a fully fit squad to choose from.

The Gunners lost central defensive pair of Laurent Koscielny after he saw red against Everton. The same match ended Gabriel Paulista’s season with a knee injury.

Uncertainty surrounds the fitness of German central defender Shkodran Mustafi, still to recover fully from the effects of concussion suffered in the previous week against Sunderland. Meanwhile the experienced Per Metesacker, who may come into contention, hasn’t started a match all season for Arsenal. To make matters worse wide defender Kieran Gibbs is also doubtful due to a knee injury.

For Wenger, the selections will depend on what formation he chooses. Should he start with a 3-4-2-1 he may opt for a more mobile back three and begin Metesacker on the bench.

Wenger said in the lead up to the match, “It just shows you how unpredictable football can be because we played at home against Everton, your mind is on attacking and, on the day, we lost two centre-backs [Gabriel and Koscielny]. It’s absolutely unbelievable and unpredictable, and we have been hit hard in a position where we will need to be strong on Saturday. We’ll have to find solutions and, hopefully, I will find the good solutions. I have until Saturday to decide [about a formation change]. We’ll test that in training until Saturday.”

For Chelsea coach Antonio Conte, the main selection decision appears whether to start with Willian or Pedro in the attacking third, and this may be a choice he leaves until the last moment when he finds out how the Gunners line up. In Conte’s opinion, a key factor is whether his team will be sufficiently motivated following the success in achieving its primary goal this season, in winning the league title. “If we hadn’t won the title, this season would have been good. Having won it, it’s become great. Now I think this season can become fantastic if we are able to win the FA Cup. We must find the right motivation. At this level, with Chelsea and Arsenal at the same level… we lost 3-0 in the league, won the other won 3-1, so we have an opportunity to play the third game with Arsenal. A great target, but it’s important for us to celebrate but, then, to find the right fire in our soul to work very hard this week and ‘feel’ this game. It’s a great opportunity to win and do the Double.”

Should Chelsea claim the double later tonight, the team will emulate the achievements of the 2009-2010 team, the only other Chelsea team to achieve the League-Cup double. That team achieved the feat under another master Italian coach in Carlo Ancelotti, when they defeated Portsmouth 1-0 in the final.
Conte said.

“I think that in the period with Carlo – and Carlo is the best Italian coach, I have great respect for him – he arrived at Chelsea when they had a really strong squad. Now we are building. We are building something important. We need time.”

For Arsenal, on the other hand, a cup final win against a team of Chelsea’s quality would mean they end the season on a high despite the disappointment of missing out on a top four place and Champions League football next season. For coach Arsene Wenger, who has come under considerable scrutiny and criticisms from Arsenal fans this season, it would be his seventh FA Cup trophy win, a remarkable achievement for the club and the longest serving EPL coach.

The match is televised live on SBS tomorrow am. Check program guides for Kick off time.

POSSIBLE LINE UPS
Arsenal XI: Cech; Holding, Mustafi, Monreal; Bellerin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Gibbs (Oxlade-Chamberlain); Ozil, Sanchez; Welbeck
Chelsea XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro ( Willian), Hazard; Costa