Arsenal came
from behind to win the first leg of the Europa League semifinal 3-1. Valencia’s
Mouctar Diakhaby opened the scoring from a set piece, but Arsenal’s Alexandre
Lacazette equalised before halftime.
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang found the back of the net twice in the second half to give Arsenal
the victory and upper hand.
Despite Arsenal’s success in the first leg, they have struggled on
the domestic front. The
Gunners are winless in five of their last six games in the Premier League. Unai
Emery’s team threw away a 1-0 lead at the weekend against Brighton to draw 1-1.
Valencia’s
weekend was far more successful than Arsenal’s game against Brighton. Los Che
defeated Huesca 6-2 thanks to two goals each from Santi Mina and Rodrigo
Moreno. Daniel Wass added another while Huesca’s Xabier Etxeita scored an own
goal.
Los Che
manager Marcelino should be confident his side can overturn the two-goal
deficit on Thursday night at the Mestalla. Arsenal struggle away from the
Emirates and until they defeated Napoli away in the previous round, they hadn’t
won on the road in the Europa
League knockout stage.
Emery has no
new injury worries as Aaron Ramsey, Denis Suarez, Rob Holding, Danny Welbeck,
and Hector Bellerin are all out of action for the remainder of the season.
Ramsey leadership has been missed by the team, however.
Valencia
have one new injury issue as Moreno suffered a knock to his ankle against
Huesca. Moreno has been included in Marcelino’s team after suffering the injury
scare and will be on the bench at the very least.
The in-form
striker has been brilliant for Valencia over the last 24 months. Several clubs
are lining up to pluck him from Valencia in the summer. Denis Cheryshev and
Geoffrey Kondogbia are out for the rest of the season and will play no part on
Thursday.
ValenciaCF have not lost to Arsenal at
the Mestalla in their last three meetings. All three meetings ended in Valencia wins. But Arsenal are in the
driver’s seat and an away goal should seal progression to the final.
It was the
second leg of their Europa League semifinal 12 months ago that Arsenal slipped
up in Spain. The Gunners fell to Atletico Madrid after drawing 1-1 in the first
leg at the Emirates.
Emery has
experience winning the Europa
Leaguewww.westernbet.com as he won three in a row with
Sevilla. He knows how to get the job done in the competition.
Valencia
must go for goal in the second leg and due to their need to score and they will
be open at the back. Arsenal should get the away goal they need to progress.
Both clubs
will score at the Mestalla as over 2.5 goals go into the back of the net. Arsenal
will move on with either Eintracht Frankfurt or London rivals Chelsea waiting
for them
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