Arsenal team news: Emery handed big boost but attacker could miss Rennes showdown

Arsenal will be looking to turn around a 3-1 deficit when we take on Rennes in our Europa League last-16 second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

Ahead of the game, the club have issued a team news update on the official website and it seems Henrikh Mkhitaryan remains a doubt for the crucial showdown due to a minor back strain.

Mkhitaryan missed the 2-0 Premier League victory over former club Manchester United on Sunday afternoon and the Armenian international will now be assessed by the medical team before his availability against Rennes is determined.

Sokratis is certain to miss the Europa League clash tomorrow night after being sent off during the 3-1 first leg defeat in France last week so Shkodran Mustafi is expected to get a recall alongside Laurent Koscielny in the middle of defence.

However, there was better news on Alexandre Lacazette as Arsenal confirmed yesterday that the French international is free to face Rennes tomorrow after UEFA reduced his suspension to just two matches.

Lacazette was initially facing a three-match ban after being sent off for violent conduct during the last-32 first leg defeat to BATE Borisov but after sitting out the second leg against the Belarusian champions and the first leg at Rennes last week, the striker is now available for the crucial game on Thursday night.

Otherwise, Emery has no other fresh concerns but obviously the Arsenal boss will continue to be without Hector Bellerin, Danny Welbeck and Rob Holding as they continue to recover from long-term injuries.

A team news update on Arsenal.com read:

Sokratis
Suspended following red card against Rennes (a).

Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Mild back strain. Being assessed ahead of Rennes (h).

Hector Bellerin
Left knee. Recovering after surgery.

Rob Holding
Left knee. Recovering after surgery.

Danny Welbeck
Right ankle. Recovering after surgery.

So the squad is in decent shape as Arsenal head into a crucial second leg needing to score at least two goals in order to progress to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. It would be a huge disappointment if we failed to make the last-8 but I’m confident we can turn things around at the Emirates.