Arsenal v Villarreal predictions: Gunners can put in a positive performance

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for the Europa League semi-final second leg between Arsenal and Villarreal on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Thursday

Best bet

Arsenal
1pt 10-11 Betfred

Team news

Arsenal
Dani Ceballos is suspended and Alexandre Lacazette (hamstring) and Kieran Tierney (knee) were absent at the weekend.

Villarreal
Vicente Iborra (knee) is a long-term absentee and Etienne Capoue is suspended.

Match preview

Arsenal were on the ropes during last Thursday's 2-1 defeat away to Villarreal in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, but they avoided a knockout blow and can respond with a better performance and a victory at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners are not in a bad position, knowing a 1-0 success would see them through to a second Europa League final in three years, and they can approach the game with greater confidence after cruising to a 2-0 success at Newcastle on Sunday.

Villarreal hold a slender advantage but the first leg was a missed opportunity for a side desperate to end a run of four successive defeats in major European semi-finals.

An hour into the game they were two goals and one player to the good after a 57th-minute red card was shown to Dani Ceballos, but Arsenal scored a crucial away goal while short-handed and the numbers were evened up by a second yellow card for Villarreal midfielder Etienne Capoue.

Villarreal had been the superior side in the opening half and deserved their victory, but they looked uncomfortable front-runners and part of the blame has to go to manager Unai Emery, who took a backward step at the break by taking off attacker Paco Alcacer for defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin.

It will be intriguing to see how Emery approaches the second leg but it would surely be a mistake to stake everything on a containing exercise.

Arsenal have scored in ten of their 11 Europa League matches this season and were the competition's second top scorers in the group stage with 20 goals.

And they approach their second contest against Villarreal with better attacking options thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's recovery from malaria.

The Gabonese international had missed three weeks of football prior to his appearance as a late substitute in the first leg, but he returned to the starting line-up on Tyneside and popped up with his tenth Premier League goal of the season.

It has been a stop-start nine months for Aubameyang, who contributed 22 league goals in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns but there is still time for him to play a defining role in Arsenal's season which may yet conclude with a return to the Champions League.

The Gunners' task is unlikely to be straightforward against a Villarreal side unbeaten since the start of the competition and targeting a sixth successive knockout-stage victory.

However, the Yellow Submarine have been sunk on their last three trips to England – including a 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the 2008-09 Champions League quarter-finals – and that trend looks set to continue.

Key stat

Villarreal have failed to score in five of their last six away games against English opposition.

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