Arsenal
[Photos] Teenage duo join Ozil on plane as Arsenal squad flies out for Valencia tie
The Arsenal squad have flown out to Spain this morning ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Valencia.
The Arsenal squad have flown out to Spain this morning ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Valencia.
We head into the decisive tie holding a 3-1 advantage following our comeback victory in the first leg at the Emirates last week. After conceding a sloppy early header, Alexandre Lacazette scored a brace to put Arsenal ahead and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang volleyed home a crucial third in stoppage time to give us a 3-1 lead ahead of tomorrow night’s clash at the Mestalla.
Unai Emery will have to pick his players up after our hugely disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Brighton on Sunday which all but guarantees Arsenal won’t be finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season.
Therefore, we’ll have to win the Europa League if we want to be playing Champions League football again next season so Thursday night’s clash with Valencia now has added importance.
With Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey, Hector Bellerin, Denis Suarez and Rob Holding all missing the game through injury, Emery has had to call upon two of his young guns to bolster the squad with Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock included in the travelling party today. The 19-year-old duo are highly unlikely to start but they could provide support from the bench if needed.
Mesut Ozil is also on the plane to Spain and it will be interesting to see if he starts this huge away game as Emery has axed the German playmaker for tough matches on the road more often than not in recent months.
Laurent Koscielny, Bernd Leno, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Petr Cech, Nacho Monreal, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira and Mohamed Elneny have also been photographed boarding the plane this morning. We should get a full team news update from Emery later today.
