With both major European cup competitions having their finals set for this week it’s definitely been a year to remember for the English Premier League. Two Premiership rivals will play in the Europa League Finals with two more going at it this weekend as Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur meet in the Champions League Finals. Chelsea will be in the Champions League mix next year by virtue of their third place finish in the Premier League but Arsenal needs to win here to join them. Otherwise, the Premiership fifth place finisher will once again compete in the Europa League next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the biggest storylines heading into the Europa League Final has at least been resolved of some of it’s uncertainty. Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri had been rumored to be a top candidate for the vacancy at Serie A powerhouse Juventus and indeed that appears to be what will transpire. Sarri has agreed to a three year deal worth \u00a36.2m annually. This will be a \u00a31.2m per year raise over his current compensation at Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino and Lazio’s Simone Inzaghi were also on the short list for the Juventus job. The only remaining issue is a compensation deal for Chelsea as he currently has two years remaining on his current contract. For now, however, everything is reportedly on hold until after this contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another major plotline involves the location of this match. The Europa League Final will be played in Baku, which is the capital and commercial center of Azerbaijan. UEFA has repeatedly tried to put a positive spin on it’s curious selection but that has become more difficult in the weeks heading up to this contest. Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, has been forced to sit this one out and will remain in London. Technically, Azerbaijan and Armenia remain at war and Mkhitaryan is concerned that he would return to London in a pine box. The government of Azerbaijan has reportedly ‘given assurances’ that Mkhitaryan would be safe but no one really believes that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another issue is the logistics of reaching Baku from the UK. In most venues, there would be a strong contingent of supporters for both Chelsea and Arsenal making the trip for the Europa Finals. Due to the difficulty in getting to Azerbaijan, this contingent will be significantly smaller than usual. After each team was allocated 6,000 tickets each for their supporters they ended up returning a significant portion of them to UEFA–Arsenal returned 2,300 tickets and Chelsea around 4,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the fact that no one is really happy with Baku except, presumably, UEFA the Europa League Final will go on. Chelsea’s managerial situation won’t help their focus and that makes the fact that Arsenal badly outplayed them in two EPL meetings this year all the more problematic. Motivation also favors Arsenal with a Champions League berth on the line. Arsenal scored two goals in each of their Premiership meetings this year and with the aforementioned intangibles they look like the play. With the Europa League Final betting odds<\/a> showing Arsenal as a favorite they’re all the more attractive here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n