With Arsenal's season all but hanging on a Europa League win now (or an unlikely two domestic wins and Chelsea dropping points), Emery is forced to go all out as Valencia come to town in the semi finals. With injuries and bad form coming at just the wrong time for the Gunners, can anyone stand up and make the difference?
With no status report on the fitness of Mesut Ozil and having seen him in training, it is assumed that he's fit to play, after missing Sunday's disappointing defeat to Leicester. Aaron Ramsey's Arsenal career is sadly over though after being ruled out for the remaining few games. Equally, after making only six appearances for the club, Denis Suarez is now out for four or five weeks potentially ending his Arsenal career already, whilst long term absentees Holding, Welbeck and Bellerin are still going through recovery and rehab. As with all cup games this season, Petr Cech will come into the side in place of Bernd Leno whilst we could see further changes outfield too. Nacho Monreal's fitness is being assessed ahead of the game and although Emery's shape should be a back three regardless, Monreal could play the left centre back role should he be fit. If not, Mustafi is likely to come in and deputise. The shape is key for Arsenal here, it's a two legged tie with so much on the line, and although Emery has got it wrong of late...mixing between back fours and back three, a three here is probably the right call. Our midfield is so thin and so out of form that three central defenders will solidify the centre of the pitch more, putting less strain on Torreira and Xhaka defensively.
Going forward, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi have both been so bad that Emery is almost forced into starting both his star strikers together again. It wasn't great against Palace, Wolves or Leicester but European games are always different, especially over two legs. Mesut Ozil in behind should inject some creative life back into a side that severely missed it last time out, struggling to really make anything speculative happen. Lacazette and Aubameyang have shown this season, in patches, what they can do together. Another big performance is required from both to build a good lead heading to Spain next week.
Defensively, Arsenal are still a mixed bag. It can be shockingly bad or it can be dogged, dynamic and fairly organised enough to stack a clean sheet but these types of performances have been too few and far between. Laurent Koscielny has been forced into playing far more football than he probably expected and what his ageing body needs at his age but he does bring much more calm to Sokratis and co generally when he's in the side. With Rob Holding so disappointingly falling foul to a season ending injury in December, it's been needs must in Arsenal's back line. Valencia possess some real threats though; Spanish international forward Rodrigo, Frenchman Kevin Gameiro and (Arsenal transfer linked) Portuguese star Goncalo Guedes provide an array of attacking talent going forward. Spanish international and skipper Dani Parejo as well as left back Jose Gaya add a solid Spanish base whilst former Gunners Gabriel and Francis Coquelin potentially offer a little red and white insight. So, it won't be an easy night by any means for the Arsenal defence. Only communication, organisation and a little bit of luck will see a clean sheet come to fruition. Limiting Valencia to a maximum of one away goal will severely swing it in Arsenal's favour provided they score too.
The Spaniards currently sit 6th in La Liga, with surprise package Getafe the only real unexpected side above them in the table. Yet, it's been a mixed bag of a season for the visitors with four points against Manchester United in the Champions League and domestic draws against Barcelona, plus a win against Real Madrid but league losses to the likes of Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Gijon have defined their season as nothing more than average. They haven't really pushed themselves into the next level but a make no mistake, a European semi final win for them (and maybe even a trophy) would make it a great season so they'll be just as hungry for success.
Expected lineup:
GK: Petr Cech
CB: Sokratis
CB: Laurent Koscielny
CB: Nacho Monreal
RWB: Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CM: Granit Xhaka
CM: Lucas Torreira
LWB: Sead Kolasinac
CAM: Mesut Ozil
ST: Alex Lacazette
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Prediction: 2-0 to the Gunners, laying a solid foundation for next week in Spain.
@craigbennett10
Thank you
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