The climax to our European campaign is almost upon us so it is time for club statistician Paul Dutton to begin our preview of the meeting with Arsenal in Azerbaijan...
Chelsea in Numbers
This is Chelsea’s 18th European match against English opposition.
The west Londoners are now a competition-record 17 games unbeaten in the Europa League, the draws at Vidi and Frankfurt being the only games in that sequence we did not win. Our last defeat in the competition was 2-3 at Rubin Kazan in the 2012/13 quarter-final second leg after we won 3-1 at the Bridge.
The Blues are targeting a club record 15th match unbeaten in Europe that would surpass our current best of 14 set between 2008 and 2010.
Chelsea are the highest scorers in this season’s Europa League (32 goals) and Olivier Giroud is the joint-top scorer in this season’s competition (10, level with Luka Jovic).
Olivier Giroud is the first player ever to score 10 goals in a single European campaign for Chelsea.
Maurizio Sarri is the first Italian to manage in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final since Alberto Malesani in 1999, who won the trophy with Parma that year.
The two previous Italians to manage an English club in a major European final led Chelsea to victory – Gianluca Vialli in the 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup final and Roberto Di Matteo in the 2012 Champions League final.
Chelsea have appeared in five previous European finals.
| 1970/71 | Real Madrid | Cup Winners’ Cup | Winners |
| 1997/98 | Stuttgart | Cup Winners’ Cup | Winners |
| 2007/08 | Manchester Utd | Champions League | Runners-up |
| 2011/12 | Bayern Munich | Champions League | Winners |
| 2012/13 | Benfica | Europa League | Winners |
| 1970/71 | Manchester City (h) | W 1-0 | Cup Winners’ Cup SF 1L |
| Manchester City (a) | W 1-0 | Cup Winners’ Cup SF 2L (agg 2-0) | |
| 2003/04 | Arsenal (h) | D 1-1 | Champions League QF 1L |
| Arsenal (a) | W 2-1 | Champions League QF 2L (agg 3-2) | |
| 2004/05 | Liverpool (h) | D 0-0 | Champions League SF 1L |
| Liverpool (a) | L 0-1 | Champions League SF 2L (agg 0-1) | |
| 2005/06 | Liverpool (a) | D 0-0 | Champions League group stage |
| Liverpool (h) | D 0-0 | Champions League group stage | |
| 2006/07 | Liverpool (h) | W 1-0 | Champions League SF 1L |
| Liverpool (a) | L 0-1 | Champions League SF 2L (agg 1-1, lost on pens) | |
| 2007/08 | Liverpool (a) | D 1-1 | Champions League SF 1L |
| Liverpool (h) | W 3-2 | Champions League SF 2L (agg 4-3) | |
| Manchester Utd (n) | D 1-1 | Champions League final (lost on pens) | |
| 2008/09 | Liverpool (a) | W 3-1 | Champions League QF 1L |
| Liverpool (h) | D 4-4 | Champions League QF 2L (agg 7-5) | |
| 2010/11 | Manchester Utd (h) | L 0-1 | Champions League QF 1L |
| Manchester Utd (a) | L 1-2 | Champions League QF 2L (agg 1-3) |
| 20 Sep | PAOK (a) | W 1-0 |
| 4 Oct | Vidi (h) | W 1-0 |
| 25 Oct | BATE Borisov (h) | W 3-1 |
| 8 Nov | BATE Borisov (a) | W 1-0 |
| 29 Nov | PAOK (h) | W 4-0 |
| 13 Dec | Vidi (a) | D 2-2 |
| 14 Feb | Malmo (a) round of 32 | W 2-1 |
| 21 Feb | Malmo (h) round of 32 | W 3-0 |
| 7 Mar | Dynamo Kiev (h) round of 16 | W 3-0 |
| 14 Mar | Dynamo Kiev (a) round of 16 | W 5-0 |
| 11 Apr | Slavia Prague (a) quarter-final | W 1-0 |
| 18 Apr | Slavia Prague (h) quarter-final | W 4-3 |
| 2 May | Eintracht Frankfurt (a) semi-final | D 1-1 |
| 9 May | Eintracht Frankfurt (h) semi-final | D 1-1 (won 4-3 on pens) |
Europa League scorers
Giroud 10, Hudson-Odoi 4, Loftus-Cheek 4, Pedro 4, Willian 3, Alonso 2, Barkley 2, Morata 2, own-goal 1
Chelsea's last six games
MILESTONES
If selected, Jorginho will make his 50th start for Chelsea in all competitions.
Mateo Kovacic made his 50th appearance Chelsea in all competitions at Leicester.
ARSENAL IN NUMBERS
Founded 1886
Major trophies
13 League championships, last in 2004
13 FA Cups, last in 2017
2 League Cups, last in 1993
1 European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994
1 Fairs Cup in 1970
Arsenal have lost four of their five UEFA European finals, with their only victory coming in the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup against Parma.
The north Londoners have appeared in six previous European finals (including the non-UEFA Fairs Cup).
| 1969/70 | Anderlecht | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | Winners |
| 1979/80 | Valencia | Cup Winners’ Cup | Runners-up |
| 1993/94 | Parma | Cup Winners’ Cup | Winners |
| 1994/95 | Real Zaragoza | Cup Winners’ Cup | Runners-up |
| 1999/00 | Galatasaray | UEFA Cup | Runners-up |
| 2005/06 | Barcelona | Champions League | Runners-up |
The Gunners are seeking a sixth consecutive win in the Europa League.
Arsenal have had a competition-high 12 different goalscorers in the Europa League this season (excluding own-goals).
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored eight goals in this season’s Europa League. The only Arsenal player with more in a single season in European competition is Ian Wright, who scored nine in the 1994/95 Cup Winners’ Cup.
The Gunners have scored five headed goals in this season’s Europa League. No club has scored more.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery has won the Europa League more often than any other manager, winning it three times in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with Sevilla.
Emery could become only the fourth manager to win the UEFA/Europa League with two different teams, after Rafael Benitez (Valencia and Chelsea), Jose Mourinho (Porto and Man Utd) and Giovanni Trapattoni (Juventus and Inter).
Arsenal’s last eight Europa League goals have been scored by either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (four) or Alexandre Lacazette (four).
In all European competition, Arsenal have faced opponents from 27 different nations and beaten teams from 26 of those countries, the only exception being against English clubs.
| 2003/04 | Chelsea (a) | D 1-1 | Champions League QF 1L |
| Chelsea (h) | L 1-2 | Champions League QF 2L (agg 2-3) | |
| 2007/08 | Liverpool (h) | D 1-1 | Champions League QF 1L |
| Liverpool (a) | L 2-4 | Champions League QF 2L (agg 3-5) | |
| 2008/09 | Manchester Utd (a) | L 0-1 | Champions League SF 1L |
| Manchester Utd (h) | L 1-3 | Champions League SF 2L (agg 1-4) |
| 20 Sep | Vorskla Poltava (h) | W 4-2 |
| 4 Oct | Qarabag (a) | W 3-0 |
| 25 Oct | Sporting Lisbon (a) | W 1-0 |
| 8 Nov | Sporting Lisbon (h) | D 0-0 |
| 29 Nov | Vorskla Poltava (a) | W 3-0 |
| 13 Dec | Qarabag (h) | W 1-0 |
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| Sporting Lisbon | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
| Vorskla Poltava | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -9 | 3 |
| Qarabag | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -11 | 3 |
| 14 Feb | BATE Borisov (a) round of 32 | L 0-1 |
| 21 Feb | BATE Borisov (h) round of 32 | W 3-0 |
| 7 Mar | Rennes (a) round of 16 | L 1-3 |
| 14 Mar | Rennes (h) round of 16 | W 3-0 |
| 11 Apr | Napoli (h) quarter-final | W 2-0 |
| 18 Apr | Napoli (a) quarter-final | W 1-0 |
| 2 May | Valencia (h) semi-final | W 3-1 |
| 9 May | Valencia (a) semi-final | W 4-2 |
Europa League scorers
Aubameyang 8, Lacazette 5, Ramsey 2 (1 pen), Smith Rowe 2, Sokratis 2, Welbeck 2, Guendouzi 1, Iwobi 1, Maitland-Niles 1, Mustafi 1, Ozil 1, Willock 1, own-goals 2.
SEMI-FINAL SECOND LEG LINE UP
VALENCIA 2 ARSENAL 4
Arsenal won 7-3 on aggregate
Mestalla, 09.05.19, 8pm
(3-4-1-2) Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny (c), Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Torreira (Guendouzi 80), Xhaka, Kolasinac (Mustafi 71); Ozil (Mkhitaryan 62); Aubameyang, Lacazette
Booked Ozil 62, Lacazette 90+2
Scorers Aubameyang 17, 69, 88, Lacazette 50
Manager Unai Emery
Days in charge: 371
Played 57
Won 35
Drawn 8
Lost 14
Unai Emery’s record v Chelsea
Won: 1
Drawn: 1
Lost: 2
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati
Rocchi and his four assistants are from Italy. Half the VAR team are from the same country and half from Poland. For the first time an additional ‘Offside VAR’ will be used.