[Date:]

Date: Thursday 2nd May
Time: 8:00pm
Stadium:Emirates
Referee: Clement Turpin (France)
Aggregate :0 - 0
Goal Scorer: 11' Mouctar Diakhaby (Val), 18',26' Alexandre Lacazette (Ars), 90' Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Ars)
 


Team News:
Arsenal have the chance to put their poor domestic form to one side as they welcome Valencia to the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday night.

The Gunners have lost three Premier League matches in a row, putting added importance on their European campaign, which ended at this same stage last season.
Arsenal
Mesut Ozil and Nacho Monreal both missed the Leicester game through injury and are doubtful for Thursday's clash, while Aaron Ramsey is definitely out with a hamstring complaint.

Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and Danny Welbeck are all long-term absentees, meanwhile, and Denis Suarez's loan spell has come to a premature end because of a troublesome muscular problem that he has been unable to shake off.

Emery therefore has limited options to choose from, but there are still some big decisions to be made. Laurent Koscielny was benched against Leicester with this match in mind, and his likely return could mean Shkodran Mustafi missing out on a reunion with his former club.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has netted four Europa League goals at the Emirates this season for Arsenal, is battling with Lacazette for a starting spot up top, though there is a possibility that both men will start.

In terms of the visitors, Denis Cheryshev and Geoffrey Kondogbia are not expected to shake off injuries in time to play a part.
Another possible reunion will be blocked by suspension as ex-Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin picked up another yellow card against Villarreal, possibly forcing Marcelino to turn to Carlos Soler in central midfield.
Recent form in Europa League: LWLWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWLLL
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac; Ozil; Lacazette, Aubameyang

Valencia
Elsewhere, Cristiano Piccini has sat out his side's last four matches, so Daniel Wass is favourite to get the nod at right-back.
Recent form in Europa League: WWWDWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWLL
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Neto; Wass, Garay, Paulista, Gaya; Torres, Soler, Parejo, Guedes; Moreno, Mina

Head To Head
Arsenal have faced Valencia on five previous occasions in all competitions, winning just once - a Champions League quarter-final first leg in 2000-01, only to be eliminated on away goals.

Los Che have won two of their last three meetings with Arsenal, winning the most recent encounter 2-1 at Mestalla in a Champions League group match 16 years ago.

The Gunners have won only ten of their 33 UEFA fixtures against Spanish opposition, while Valencia's only previous European semi-final against an English club resulted in a 3-0 aggregate victory against Leeds United in the 2000-01 Champions League.

Post Reply

Posted: at 1-05-2019 08:15 AM (4 years ago) | Hero

Reply: