Arsenal are scheduled to face Chelsea in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday night. The Gunners recently failed to secure a Champions League spot via a top-four league finish and their prospect of qualifying for the elite competition are now entirely dependent on winning the Europa League crown.
Formation: 3-4-1-2
Predicted Lineup:
Petr Cech has been the regular choice for the goalkeeping duties in the Europa League and he is expected to feature in goal in his final professional game. A section of the fans have been critical regarding the potential selection of Cech ahead of Bernd Leno, but Emery is likely to entrust the veteran with the role between the sticks.
In the defence, Emery should stick with the three-man backline which has worked impressively through the backend of the competition. In this case, Sokratis, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal are the best picks for the positions and that would leave the error-prone Shkodran Mustafi on the bench.
At right wing-back, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is pretty much an automatic choice with Hector Bellerin on the sidelines. On the opposite end, Sead Kolasinac should make the starting lineup after managing to return to training following a troublesome knee problem picked up during the semi-final return leg at Valencia.
In the midfield, Emery has the temptation to partner Matteo Guendouzi with the likes of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira. However, judging by the recent selection policy, the Spaniard should go with a two-man combination, meaning that Guendouzi may have to settle for a bench role.
In the attack front, there are no disputed choices with Mesut Ozil more than likely to feature in the number 10 role while the in-form pairing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette should lead the line.
Arsenal are without Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (safety concerns) for the game but they have been boosted with the timely return of Danny Welbeck from injury and he could yet play some part off the bench, where he could be accompanied by Iwobi.
