Thursday night sees Arsenal host Valencia in a match-up of two teams that are in somewhat similar positions when it comes to European football next season. In both the English Premier League and Spanish La Liga, no one seemed really interested in stepping up and claiming the fourth and final UEFA Champions League qualification slot.
It was there for the taking, in both regards, but Arsenal couldn’t get it done, and it looks like they’ll finish fifth in the table while Valencia are currently mired in sixth. For both teams, their best and maybe now only, route back into the big boy competition relies on advancing here and then winning the final.
Let’s take a look at what Arsenal boss Unai Emery might do here with his first team selection.
Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction vs Valencia UEFA Europa League Semi-final, Leg 1/2
Attack: Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette
Midfielders: Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka
Wingbacks: Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Back line: Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Arsenal FC at Valencia (UEFA Europa League semifinal Leg 1/2) FYIs
Kickoff- Thursday May 2, Emirates Stadium 8pm
Injury report for both sides: go to this link
Odds via Betfair- Arsenal 19/10, Draw 5/2, Valencia 3/1
Odds to qualify Arsenal 8/11, Valencia 11/10
Prediction- Arsenal 1, Valencia 0
With both English clubs now through to the semi-final round, it seems very likely that one of them will win it all. Maybe we could have a London derby final too!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets:Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.