Unai Emery to make 4 changes: Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Valencia | OneFootball

Arsenal face Valencia in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday, on the back of three consecutive Premier League defeats.

Whilst everything is falling apart in the race for a top-four finish, things have been going pretty well in the Europa League. The Gunners managed victories home and away against Napoli in the last round, despite the Serie A side representing one of the favourites to win the entire tournament.

The difference this time is that Aaron Ramsey is injured and certain to miss out. The Welshman was influential against Napoli, and he’ll be a big miss against Valencia.

Other than that, let’s have a look at team news and our predicted lineup for the match.

Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs

After he kept his place in goal against Napoli, there’s almost no doubt Petr Cech will start once again on this occasion. The goalkeeper is on a good run of form, keeping four clean sheets in his last five Europa League knockout matches.

Emery should start three at the back, as that’s how they got both of their victories against Napoli in the last round. Laurent Koscielny was rested at the weekend, so he should come back in. Nacho Monreal is a doubt with injury, but the signs look good that he’ll return in time to start as well.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos hasn’t had the best time since his Premier League suspension ended, but Arsenal will need him to return to his best on this occasion. The Greek international will very likely start over Shkodran Mustafi, as well as Konstantinos Mavropanos, who is ineligible.

Midfield and Wing-Backs

Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ red card against Leicester City may have dealt Arsenal’s Premier League challenge a blow, but it’s given their Europa League hopes a boost. The wing-back will now be rested ahead of both the home and the away leg against Valencia, so let’s just hope he takes advantage of that.

Maitland-Niles should start on the right with Sead Kolasinac on the left. Aaron Ramsey is out injured in midfield, but Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira, Mohamed Elneny, Matteo Guendouzi and Joe Willock are all fit. It seems unlikely Emery will start any pairing other than Xhaka-Torreira in a game as big as this.

Front three

After a foot injury kept him out at the weekend, Mesut Özil hasn’t been listed in Arsenal’s latest injury update, so the assumption is that he’ll be fit to play. If that’s the case, there aren’t many alternatives for the number 10 role anyway, so he’ll surely start.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette will both start ahead of him, after both drawing blanks in recent defeats. Arsenal really need the pair to step up again on this occasion.

That means Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eddie Nketiah will all take up places on the bench. Given Iwobi and Mkhitaryan’s recent form, that’s not a bad thing. Like Arsenal’s strike partnership, they have to show some improvement if called upon.

Full Predicted Starting XI

[td_smart_list_end]

Arsenal vs Valencia Betting Tips

Like Arsenal, Valencia haven’t kept a clean sheet in the three matches since their last Europa League game. Bet on both teams to score with BetUK at 10/13.

Alexandre Lacazette scored in the last round against Napoli, he’s scored most of his goals at home since joining Arsenal and he’s scored three in his last two Europa League semi-final ties. Bet on Lacazette to score anytime with BetUK at 33/20.

Arsenal’s away record to Valencia is poor, but they’ve never lost against the Spanish side at home. Bet on Arsenal or draw with BetUK at 4/17.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Valencia (25/4 with BetUK).