Europa League Final 2019 – Chelsea vs Arsenal team news: Petr Cech named in goal as N'Golo Kante is declared fit to start

The legendary goalkeeper will play his last game for Arsenal tonight

Jack Watson
Wednesday 29 May 2019 19:12 BST
Comments
Europa League final in numbers: Arsenal vs Chelsea

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Petr Cech starts for Arsenal against Chelsea f.c in the Europa League final, his last ever match as a professional football.

Legendary goalkeeper Cech revealed tonight's final will be his last ever professional match before retiring and possibly taking a non-playing role at Chelsea, where he spent 11 seasons.

Arsenal are without Aaron Ramsey, who is injured, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has not travelled to Azerbaijan for safety reasons.

N'Golo Kante was a doubt for the London derby, but has recovered from a slight injury to play in midfield alongside Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic.

Sarri admitted Kante's chances of playing in the final were "50-50" after the French midfielder suffered a knee injury on Saturday.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi were already ruled out for Chelsea, leaving Chelsea with just Mateo Kovacic, Jorgino and Ross Barkley as their fully fit midfielders.

Victory for Arsenal will grant them a place in the Champions League next season, while a Chelsea triumph will crown a turbulent season and give Sarri his first senior trophy as a manager.

Full team news

Chelsea XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Pedro, Giroud, Hazard.

Bench: Caballero, Cumming, Alonso, Barkley, Higuaín, Zappacosta, Willian, Cahill, Ampadu, Gallagher, McEachran

Arsenal XI: Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil; Lacazette, Aubameyang.

Bench: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Jenkinson, Elneny, Guendouzi, Willock, Saka, Iliev, Iwobi, Nketiah, Welbeck

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in