Arsenal travel to El Madrigal on Thursday to face Unai Emery’s Villarreal in the first leg of their Europa League semifinal match-up.
With so much at stake for Arsenal, the result of this game could determine if the Gunners play in the UEL final. A bad performance, and a lack of away goals, could put a fork in this season for once and for all.
Villarreal have not had a banner season either. Currently standing 7th in La Lisa, Emery’s side have 12 wins, 13 draws and 8 losses in the Spanish league, They trail league leading Atletico Madrid by 24 points, a Champions League spot by 21 points and a Europa League spot by just 1 point..
With that said, Mikel Arteta has to start his best available line-up for this match. Here’s my predicted starting XI on Thursday in Spain…
[4-2-3-1]
Aubameyang
Smith Rowe, Odegaard, Saka
Ceballos, Partey
Xahka, Mari, Holding, Bellerin
Leno
Predicted final score…
Villarreal 2 – ARSENAL 1
COYG!
Gunner1953
One of my all-time Arsenal players, Olivier Giroud, returns to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. This time as a player for the competition, Lille. Giroud scored 105 goals in 253 appearances for the Gunners.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard on Man City’s punishment. “In terms of how I feel, I potentially could be affected if you like, I wouldn’t want individual players to give stuff back, that wouldn’t be right. But the club, they have to be stripped.”
Lie