Valencia and Arsenal meet in the UEFA Europa League semifinals. The match will be played on Estadio de Mestalla on Thursday at 20:00.
Although they managed to open the score in the lap, the “bats” failed to withstand the pressure on the Emirates, and the hosts in that duel were able to return the fate of the game and score three goals, which, to a great extent , have secured their qualification in the UEFA Europa League final. In the two direct disputes in Valencia, the hosts were forced each time 1-0 in 2001 and 2-1 in 2003, both confrontations being played in the UEFA Champions League.
The last two games played by Valencia were extremely spectacular, 1-3 in London and 6-2 in Huesca in the championship. Also, the “tuners” also had part of last-round matches, 18 being scored in the last 5 official games, but only 7 of them belonged to Unai Emery’s band.
If the hosts of this confrontation were forced to score at the weekend, Arsenal did not manage to cross Brighton, 17th place in the Premier League (score 1-1), thus losing its chance is approaching a single point of the 4th position currently occupied by Tottenham.
Geoffrey Kondogbia and Denis Cheryshev (injured) are host absences, while “tuners” will not be able to rely on Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin, Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey (injured).
Probable teams:
Valencia: Neto – Piccini, Garay, Paulista, Gaya – Soler, Coquelin, Parejo, Guedes – Moreno, Mina;
Arsenal: Cech – Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny – Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Kolasinac – Iwobi, Mikhtarian – Lacazette;
With two exceptions, the defeats suffered at BATE Borisov (0-1) and Rennes (1-3), Arsenal have been imposed on every move of the current UEFA Europa League season, including the quarterfinals, when have won the 1-0 score on the Napoli field. Valencia also had an almost perfect home-grown European course with five wins (two in the Champions League and one in the Europa League) and one single failure. The home team has to play with a two-goal deficit, and this could produce opportunities on both sides, with guests looking to hit the counter. We are counting on goals scored in both halves, but also on a minimal success of the hosts in the first half of the match.
PREDICTION: Valencia to win @ 1,88
