Arsenal
Arsenal vs Napoli: Europa League preview & betting tips
Arsenal will be hoping to secure a first leg advantage in their Europa League quarter-final against Napoli at the Emirates this evening.
Arsenal will be hoping to secure a first leg advantage in their Europa League quarter-final against Napoli at the Emirates this evening.
The Gunners were enjoying a good run of form until going down 1-0 at Everton last weekend and they now sit fifth in the Premier League table so they face a tough battle to finish in the top four this season.
The Europa League represents another chance to get back into the Champions League next year so Unai Emery will be desperate to replicate the success he had at Sevilla where he won the competition three times.
Arsenal had little trouble navigating the group stages but have found life more difficult in the knockout rounds. The north Londoners lost the away legs at both BATE Borisov and Rennes before turning things around at home to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Napoli are also one of the favourites to win the Europa League this season with bookies offering odds of 4/1 on the Italians lifting the trophy but they face a tough task getting past Arsenal over two legs.
Arsenal will hand late fitness tests to Laurent Koscielny and Granit Xhaka after they returned to full training following injuries while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aaron Ramsey are also pushing for a recalls.
Lucas Torreira returns from suspension but Hector Bellerin, Danny Welbeck and Rob Holding remain on the sidelines with long-term injuries.
Napoli will be without Raul Albiol and Amadou Diawara due to injury while David Ospina is ineligible to face his parent club. Lorenzo Insigne and Faouzi Ghoulam are in contention after returning to action at the weekend.
Betting odds
The game is a difficult one to call with tipster service predicting a draw tonight which can be backed at odds of 12/5. Arsenal are the narrow 13/10 favourites to win the first leg while Napoli are on offer at odds of 23/10 to take home a victory.
Arsenal have an excellent record at the Emirates this season so we can’t see the north Londoners losing at home and Emery will be confident of taking a lead over to Italy for the second leg. Our predicted score is Arsenal 2-1 Napoli which can be backed at odds of 7/1.
