Arsenal vs Villarreal: Betting preview with odds and predictions

Arsenal will look to turn things around when they welcome Villarreal to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday night.

The Gunners were poor in the first leg last week and were perhaps fortunate to escape with just a 2-1 defeat after Nicolas Pepe scored what could be a vital away goal from the penalty spot.

Mikel Arteta’s side eased to a 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon but Arsenal still languish way down in ninth position in the Premier League table – seven points off sixth place with just four games remaining.

Therefore, winning the Europa League is the only realistic way for Arsenal to be playing European football again next season so Arteta will be determined to turn things around against Villarreal on Thursday night.

If the Gunners can get past Unai Emery’s side they are almost certainly going to be up against Manchester United in the final after they thrashed Roma 6-2 in their semi-final first leg.

Betting odds

Arsenal are the 20/23 favourites to win the second leg on Thursday evening with Villarreal priced at 10/3 to claim victory at the Emirates Stadium. The draw is at 13/5.

• Arsenal win: 20/23
• Villarreal win: 10/3
• Draw: 13/5

However, the bookies still think the Spaniard’s are in the driving seat overall as Villarreal are 13/20 to reach the final with Arsenal available at odds of 6/5.

It appears betting on Arsenal could be risky, especially given how inconsistent they’ve been this season, so you could look to use a bet365 bonus to reduce your financial outlay or look out for enhanced odds.

Predictions

It’s going to be a tough game for Arsenal but we still think they’ll win on Thursday night and a 2-0 victory can be backed at odds of 8/1. A 3-1 win at 13/1 also looks tempting.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returned to the starting eleven at the weekend and got himself on the scoresheet so he could be a decent bet to open the scoring against Villarreal at odds of 10/3.

Arsenal love to make life difficult for themselves but they are a better side than Villarreal and a solid performance on Thursday should be enough to see them win this game. The north Londoners have the firepower to score 2-3 goals with ease so it’s just a case of keeping things tight at the back.

Our prediction is that Aubameyang will score first in a nervy 3-1 Arsenal win which will be enough to book their place in the final 4-3 on aggregate.