MAURIZIO SARRI'S first season at Chelsea has been a bumpy ride but the Italian looks set to end the campaign on a high.
Despite continued dissent from the stands about his style of football, Sarri remains at the helm and is steering the team towards silverware.
Sunday's win over Watford secured one of the club's goals for the campaign as they booked a Champions League slot on a weekend all their rivals slipped up.
They now look set to end the Premier League in third spot and that's about as good as anyone could have expected, given the exceptional standard set by Manchester City and Liverpool at the top.
But nobody remembers a third-place finish in years to come so Sarri's side will be determined to end a rollercoaster season with a trophy, something the Italian insists his players deserve.
And they're in the box seat for a place in the Europa League Final after returning from Germany with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
That was the latest impressive result in what has been a pretty flawless European campaign from the Blues.
Sarri has taken a lot of stick for results and performances in the Premier League and I thought he was a goner after keeper Kepa refused to be subbed before the shoot-out loss to Man City in the League Cup Final.
But a big win over Spurs in the following game seem to galvanise them and they have hardly put a foot wrong in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Chelsea remain unbeaten in the tournament this season and have scored 19 goals in their last seven Europa League matches, hugely impressive stats.
I can't see them slipping up against Frankfurt having done all the hard work in the away leg. Neither can the bookies, with Sarri's side 4/11 with most firms, so you need to be creative to get a bit of value.
Frankfurt have also been scoring freely in the knockout stages, winning 6-3 on aggregate against Shakhtar Donetsk and edging out Benfica on away goals after they were tied at 4-4 on aggregate.
The only exception was a 1-0 aggregate win over Inter in the last 16 so backing a Chelsea win with both teams to score appeals at 41/20 with 888 Sport.
Olivier Giroud has been Sarri's go-to guy in the Europa League and the Frenchman now boasts 10 goals in the tournament this season.
I backed him to score against Slavia Prague in the last round and it paid off so I'll be sticking by Giroud here, even though Gonzalo Higuain impressed in the weekend win over Watford.
Giroud is 9/2 with Boylesports to break the deadlock and good value at 5/4 with Ladbrokes to net at anytime.
Ruben Loftus Cheek turned in a hugely impressive display against Watford that he capped with a goal. That should be enough to earn him a start here, especially with Ngolo Kante ruled out with a hamstring injury, and Loftus Cheek also appeals in the anytime scorer market at 13/5 with Paddy Power.
Ante Rebic was a big miss for Frankfurt in the first leg due to suspension but he will return here to boost their firepower. I like the look of the Croatian in the anytime scorer market at 9/2 with Paddy Power.
This UEFA Europa League match between Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt will be played on May 9, 2019 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Chelsea vs Eintracht Frankfurt prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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