The time has come for the most unique FA Cup final in the history of the world's most prestigious domestic cup competition.
Due to Coronavirus restrictions, there will be no fans at Wembley on Saturday as Arsenal and Chelsea battle it out, looking to earn a first major trophy for their respective managers.
Despite an inconsistent season, Frank Lampard has worked wonders to get Chelsea into the top four, having been unable to sign players after joining the club combined with the loss of talisman Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
Champions League football was secured on the final day with a 2-0 win against Wolves with former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud amongst the goals.
The Frenchman, who won three FA Cups whilst at the Emirates, has been in fine form since the restart, scoring seven goals since the resumption of English football in June, including in the semi-final win over Manchester United.
With the Blues unlikely to advance against Bayern Munich in the last-16 of the Champions League next month, trailing 3-0 on aggregate, the FA Cup represents the best chance for Lampard to claim silverware in his first season at Stamford Bridge, and only his second season as a head coach.
For Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, winning the FA Cup takes on an extra significance as it's the only way the Gunners can qualify for European football next season.
A poor start to the season led to the dismissal of Unai Emery before the arrival of Arteta from Manchester City, considered a risky move by many given the Spaniard had only ever previously been a number two to Pep Guardiola.
Whilst results improved under Arteta, Arsenal's old failings remained.
A dramatic and disastrous Europa League exit at the hands of Olympiakos at the last-32 stage piled the pressure on the Gunners' to succeed in the FA Cup, especially when Premier League results after the restart ruined any chance of European qualification with an eighth placed finish, their lowest since 1994-95.
However, Arsenal have shown they have the ability to turn up for the big occasion this season and they must do so again in their fourth FA Cup final in the last seven seasons.
Road to the Final
Both sides have been flawless on their run to the final, winning five out of five with no replays required.
Arsenal's cup run this season began with a 1-0 win over Championship side Leeds at the Emirates, with Reiss Nelson scoring only his second goal for the club. Leeds will be returning to North London next season after winning the Championship to end their 16-year exile from the top flight.
A 2-1 win at fellow Premier League side Bournemouth followed in round four with Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah scoring for a youthful Arsenal lineup.
Round five saw the Gunners back on the south coast to travel to League One Portsmouth, whose famous 2008 FA Cup triumph under Harry Redknapp seems a lifetime ago. Sokratis and Nketiah saw Arteta's side through to the quarter-finals where Sheffield United were waiting.
This looked to be a tough game for Arsenal, with the Blades enjoying a fantastic return to the Premier League which had included taking four points from six from the two league meetings between the sides prior to lockdown.
Only VAR prevented Chris Wilder's side from taking the lead in the tie as John Lundstram's early goal was ruled out.
Nicolas Pepe's penalty was cancelled out by David McGoldrick's goal three minutes from time, before Dani Ceballos calmly slotted home in stoppage time to avoid extra time and send Arsenal to Wembley.
The semi-final saw the Gunners produce arguably their best performance under Arteta as a clinical brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw off competition favourites and holders Manchester City, who'd beaten Arsenal 3-0 on the first day of the Premier League restart.
Chelsea's road to the final also began by seeing off Championship opposition at home as goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ross Barkley were enough to beat Nottingham Forest.
The Blues came up against another second-tier side in the second round as they travelled to Humberside to face Hull City.
Michy Batshuayi opened the scoring before Fikayo Tomori doubled the lead. Hull briefly threatened a comeback when Kamil Grosicki pulled one back but Lampard's side held on to advance to the fifth round.
As mentioned before, Arsenal's best performance under Arteta came in their semi-final win over Manchester City. For Chelsea, arguably their finest display under Frank Lampard's reign so far was in the fifth round against runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool.
The Reds came into the game having lost two of their last three games in all competitions and Chelsea, led by a sensational midfield performance by youngster Billy Gilmour, capitalised on fragility in the Liverpool defence.
Willian profited from a goalkeeping howler from Adrian before Barkley drove home a stunning second from 20 yards to set up a quarter-final tie against Leicester City.
It was Barkley once again who was the hero in the cup for the Blues as he scored the only goal midway through the second half at the King Power Stadium.
Standing between Chelsea and yet another FA Cup final were Manchester United, who'd already beaten the Blues three times in league and cup this season by an aggregate score of 8-1.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made several changes including dropping regular 'cup keeper' Sergio Romero for David De Gea and it turned into a day to forget for the Spaniard.
Giroud opened the scoring with a near post flick deep into first half stoppage time as his effort squirmed through De Gea and trickled over the line, before Mason Mount's early second half shot inexplicably found the corner after another error from the United number one.
An own goal from Harry Maguire compounded United's misery and even though Bruno Fernandes pulled a goal back from the spot, it was not enough to prevent Frank Lampard from leading the club for whom he has legendary status back to Wembley for the final.
Final History
Arsenal and Chelsea are no strangers, especially when it comes to facing each other in finals.
The pair have contested four major finals in the past 20 years, twice in the FA Cup - Arsenal won on both occasions.
Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg scored in the Gunners' 2-0 win over Chelsea in the 2002 Final in Cardiff while Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey led Arsene Wenger's side to a 2-1 Wembley success in 2017 after Chelsea had been crowned Premier League champions under Antonio Conte.
It was the last major trophy won under the Frenchman's 22 year reign in North London.
The other two finals saw Chelsea emerge victorious, firstly in the League Cup final in 2007.
Theo Walcott's first Gunners goal saw him put Arsenal into the lead at the Millennium Stadium before Didier Drogba, so often the scourge of Arsenal, scored a brace to win it including a late glancing header.
The sides also met in last season's Europa League final in Baku as Hazard said his Chelsea farewell with the kind of dominating display fans in England had come used to seeing from the Belgian captain.
Giroud and Pedro had earlier scored for the Blues before a stunning volley from Alex Iwobi at 3-0 threatened an Arsenal fightback, which was killed off by Hazard.
Verdict
Finals are often tight, tense affairs with neither side willing to give anything away.
I see this being a wide open contest, however, considering the defensive difficulties both teams have endured this season.
Between them, Arsenal and Chelsea conceded 102 goals in the 2019/20 Premier League season, highlighting an area where both are severely lacking.
That being said, Arsenal's best defensive display of the campaign came in their 2-0 semi-final win over Manchester City while Lampard's gamble of dropping Kepa Arizzabalaga for Willy Cabellero against Wolves paid off as Chelsea secured Champions League football next year.
Cabellero is expected to start the final.
There will be goals, I'm sure of that and my head is leaning towards Chelsea, especially if Ngolo Kante is passed fit. Any team in the world would miss a player of the quality of the French World Cup winner.
Attack is the best form of defence for both sides at Wembley on Saturday, we could be watching something more akin to an end-to-end NBA match as opposed to an edgy, nervous cup final.
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