Match Preview
It's all or nothing for the Gunners when they come face to face with Villarreal at the Emirates on Thursday night. The encounter is without doubt the biggest in the ongoing campaign for Mikel Arteta's side as their participation in Europe next season heavily depends on it. Turbulent season in the domestic league competition has left the club sitting in ninth position - seven points adrift of a Europa League qualifying spot and 12 away from a top-four spot.
Arsenal approach Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg clash on the back of a 2-1 defeat in the first leg. In an encounter in which the North London club had to compete with 10 men owning to the sending off of Dani Ceballos, they were given a lifeline through Nicolas Pepe's spot-kick. This came after first half goals for Villarreal by Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol. The hope of returning to Europe solely lies in the result of this forthcoming peultimate clash as well as the eventual final.
Over the weekend, the Gunner secured a 2-0 victory at Newcastle United to boost confidence in camp ahead of the all important encounter. Goals from Mohamed Elneny and returning skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proved sufficient as they hanged onto their slim hopes of securing a Europa League slot for next season via the premiership.
For Villarreal, a performance reminiscent of the first half the clash with Arsenal last week should do them a lot of good in Thursday's final lap. The Yellow Submarines, steered by the Gunners' former boss Unai Emery, completely dominated the early half of proceedings to leave their mark on the game albeit unfortunately conceding a goal. The Spanish league side are well positioned to complete the job when they travel to London and come into the clash on the back of a 1-0 win over Getafe over the weekend.
The result safeguarded their Europa League slot for next season for another week with Real Betis breathing down their necks in seventh position. Needless to say, the their fate in La Liga may not matter should they successfully get the better of Arsenal in second leg of the Europa League's penultimate clash. So far, they are unbeaten in their last nine outings in the competition, during which they have scored at least two goals on seven separate occasions. The only time they came up trumps in the ongoing campaign was in the 1-1 draw away at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In addition, without conceding a single goal, Villarreal have won their last four Europa League games away from home and failed to advance in one of its 16 last European ties after winning the first leg. Interestingly, it was another English side, Liverpool, that ruined this run during the 2015-16 Europe League campaign.
Team news
Kieran Tierney, Alexandre Lacazette, and David Luiz are all doubtful for Thursday's meeting with Villarreal. Arsenal will also be without Dani Ceballos as he was suspended in the first leg. Relatively, Villarreal will also be without Etienne Capoue after the Frenchman faced the same fate as the Gunners' satr in last week's meeting. Juan Foyth and Vicente Iborra could also be omitted form the squad as a result of injuries.
Predicted starting XI
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Arsenal: Leno; Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Xhaka; Partey, Elneny; Saka, Smith Rowe, Pepe; Aubameyang
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Villarreal: Rulli; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Chukwueze, Parejo, Coquelin, Trigueros; Moreno, Bacca.
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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