Chelsea will be looking to complete the second league and cup double in their history when they take on Arsenal in Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley.
Having set a record for Premier League wins on their way to winning the title, the Blues are 3/4 (1.75) favourites to round off the season in style by lifting the trophy with another victory here.
By contrast, Arsene Wenger has come under considerable pressure after failing to finish in the top four for the first time in 20 years in English football, but can be backed at 7/2 (4.50) to go some way to atoning for that disappointment with a third cup win in four seasons.
GettyTwo of the last three finals have been decided in extra-time, and you can get odds of 27/10 (3.70) on this one also remaining all square after 90 minutes.
Considering how their respective seasons eventually turned out, it seem strange to reflect on the Gunners’ emphatic 3-0 victory in September’s league game as a major turning point in the campaign.
Prompted to switch his tactics to a three-man defence following that humbling result, Antonio Conte never looked back as his team won 27 games and lost just twice en route to a convincing title victory.
The Italians’ success with that set-up also inspired many other managers to follow suit, with Wenger himself having seen a discernible improvement at the back after adding another central defender to his line-up in recent weeks.
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However, having lost the influential Laurent Koscielny to suspension and with Shkrodan Mustafi looking set to join the Gabriel Paulista on the sidelines through injury, the Frenchman is faced with something of a defensive crisis.
With this in mind, odds of 3/4 (1.75) seem generous on an all-conquering Chelsea side to demonstrate their superiority by coming out on top against an Arsenal team whose efforts to replicate their opponents’ tactics are hampered by absentees.
