Holding, Iwobi, Ozil, Ramsey, Arsenal
Arsenal could use a bit of joy to end their seasonReuters

A double for Chelsea, some sort of salvation from a thoroughly disappointing season for Arsenal – that is what's at stake when the two London rivals meet in the final of the FA Cup.

Wembley will be blue and red on Saturday, as the Chelsea fans look to add one more title to celebrate, while the Gooners hope their team put on the kind of performance they witnessed in the semifinals against Manchester City.

At the same ground, the Arsenal players showed desire, guts and pluck to see off a City side, who started the semifinal as the favourites, with that win giving the team some momentum to go on an impressive run to end the season.

While, in the end, that run came too late to finish in the top four of the English Premier League, it does give the Arsenal players some confidence going into this match against the EPL champions Chelsea.

Confidence is exactly what Arsenal need if they are to compete against this rampant Chelsea side.

As it sits, everything is in Chelsea's favour, what with Antonio Conte's men looking like the stronger team and Arsenal going into the final with a lot of injury problems.

It looks like Arsene Wenger will have to stitch up a defence together, owing to unfortunate injuries and suspensions, and the last thing the Arsenal manager would have wanted, before a game against such a strong team like Chelsea, would have been threadbare options in defence.

However, if ever there was a time for Wenger to show he still has some tactical nous left in him, it is right now – for this FA Cup 2017 final.

Antonio Conte, Chelsea, EPL trophy, Arsenal, FA Cup final
Antonio Conte will be keen to add a second title in England to his resumeReuters

Antonio Conte has been praised to the heavens for masterminding Chelsea's EPL title, and with the Italian seen as a brilliant tactician, Wenger needs to show he can outwit the Blues manager.

If not, this game is likely to end up going one way, with the Blue half of Wembley celebrating a double to finish their season.

As long as Arsenal stay strong at the back – be that with a back four or three central defenders – they have a chance of winning this final.

Because up front, the Gunners have looked good in recent games, and while Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have been criticised at times for not showing up in the big matches, you feel, if Arsenal show the kind of resilience they showed against City in the semis, these big names will step up at the other end of the pitch.

A perfect performance is required to beat this Chelsea side, but are Arsenal capable of that perfect performance?

FA Cup 2017 final schedule: Arsenal vs Chelsea.

Date: Saturday, May 27.

 

Time: 5.30pm BST, 10pm IST, 12.30pm ET, 8.30pm GST.

 

Venue: Wembley, London.

 

TV guide: India: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Ten 1. UK: BT Sport 2 and BBC One. USA: Fox Sports 1. Australia: SBS One and ESPN. Canada: Sportsnet World. Singapore: Eleven. Malaysia: Astro SuperSport 4. China: PPTV Sport and Tianjin Sport.

 Behind the scenes at Arsenal