Arsenal host Benfica at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens on Thursday. The Gunners come into this match tied 1-1 on aggregate, however, they have a one away goal advantage going into the game.
For the Gunners to advance to the Europa League Round of 16 in March, this is a must win game. They will need more than just a strong defensive performance, they will need goals. The Europa League is the Gunners only “hail Mary” for any chance to play in the Champions League next season.
Mikel Arteta must start a strong squad on Thursday, even though Leicester City waits in the wings for a Sunday Premier League showdown at the King Power Stadium.
With that said, here are my predictions for Thursday…
Arsenal’s starting XI…
[4-2-3-1]
Aubameyang
Martinelli, Smith Rowe, Saka
Xhaka, Ceballos
Tierney, Gabriel, Mari, Cedric
Leno
Final score…
ARSENAL 2 – Benfica 1 [Arsenal advance to the Round of 16 with a 3-2 aggregate score for the two legs]
COYG!
David Raya has been voted Arsenal’s Player of the Month for May by the readers of Arsenal.com.
Max Dowman has been nominated for the PFA’s Young Player of the Year Award.
Jurrien Timber has withdrawn from the Netherland’s World Cup squad to recover from his nagging groin injuries.
Team Talk is reporting Arsenal is expected to finish the permanent transfer of Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen. 
