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Chelsea and Arsenal meet this Saturday evening in the FA Cup final at what will be an eerily empty Wembley.
But while the supporters must stay away, it promises to be an entertaining contest with both Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta desperate to win their first trophy in management.
This will be the fifth time the two clubs have met in a cup final this century and the third time in the FA Cup final.
We take a look back at the previous four encounters here.
FA CUP FINAL 2002 – ARSENAL 2 CHELSEA 0
This was the season that Arsene Wenger’s second great team at Highbury emerged from the shadow of Manchester United to achieve their own domestic dominance.
By the time of this final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Arsenal hadn’t lost domestically since December 18, building up ahead of steam that would see them win a second Double in five seasons.
This was actually the first leg of that success, the Cup final taking place on the strangely early date of May 4. Four days later, Wenger’s side won 1-0 at Old Trafford to clinch the Premier League crown as well.
LEAGUE CUP FINAL 2007 – CHELSEA 2 ARSENAL 1
In 2002, Chelsea could be described as a cosmopolitan and frequently entertaining team who prospered mainly in the cup competitions but wouldn’t be described as a powerhouse.
By 2007, enriched by Roman Abramovich’s roubles, they were a very different proposition. Back-to-back league champions under Jose Mourinho, they’d assembled a powerful team.
Just look at the midfield they put out in this Cardiff final – Claude Makelele in the holding role with Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien ahead of him. Oh, and Arjen Robben came off the bench.
Contrast that with a distinctly youthful Arsenal team with an average age of less than 21 years – the youngest to play in a major English cup final.
FA CUP FINAL 2017 – ARSENAL 2 CHELSEA 1
Fast forward another decade and both clubs had been affected by the shifting sands of form and fortune.
Arsenal’s trajectory under Wenger was one of steady drift and decline and this unexpected Wembley victory was a shaft of sunlight in the twilight of his 22 years at the helm following a season in which he’d been heavily criticised.
Chelsea’s journey had been more of a rollercoaster, the chopping and changing of managers often bringing short-term gratitude but long-term friction.
This season was one of the highs, with Antonio Conte delivering the Premier League title. But they would be thwarted in their efforts to win another Double on a warm late May afternoon at Wembley.
EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL 2019 – CHELSEA 4 ARSENAL 1
A final between two teams from London played – for reasons apparent only to UEFA – some 2,500 miles away on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku.
With direct flights a near-impossibility, fans of both clubs set out on epic voyages of planes, trains and automobiles. One final unnecessary slog at the end of a pan-continental Europa marathon.
Arsenal, in Unai Emery’s first season, had failed to break back into the Champions League, finishing fifth and there were already question marks about Wenger’s successor. There would be more afterward.
Chelsea, in what would prove to be Maurizio Sarri’s one and only campaign, had come third but in terms of trophies, it was Baku or bust.
Chelsea claimed their fifth European title but it wasn’t enough for Sarri, who never looked the right fit.
‘In my opinion, I deserve to stay at Chelsea but my opinion is not enough,’ said the Italian, resigned to his fate. Two weeks later came the inevitable.
