Thursday Europa League – Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid Preview
April 26th 2018 20:05- Emirates Stadium
Recent Form (All Competitions)
Arsenal: WWWLL
Atletico Madrid: WDLWL
In the build up to this highly anticipated match, much of the news has been dominated by the announcement that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will be leaving the club after 22 years in charge.
It would be a dream end to an astounding career if Wenger could guide his team to victory, and his players will look to give their long-serving coach the perfect send off. However, they will be facing one of the most organised sides in Europe.
As well as offering a farewell to Wenger, Arsenal need to win this competition to qualify for next seasons’ Champions League, as they currently sit sixth in the Premier League. They have won four, drawn one and lost one of their six home games in the Europa League this season and scored at least three goals in four of those games, including wins over AC Milan and CSKA Moscow.
The Gunners will want to build a good lead to take to Spain. Their away form is not too bad with four wins, one draw and one loss in this season’s competition – an exact mirror of their home form. Rotation during the earlier stages means that Aaron Ramsey is the top scorer for Arsenal with just four goals, but Wenger will need his strongest side in both legs of this match. January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is cup-tied.
The Spanish side are currently second in La Liga with the best defensive record in the division – a trait of the side since Diego Simeone has been in charge. They started out in the Champions League, but were drawn in a tough group where they finished behind Chelsea and AS Roma. In the end, they drew too many matches, scoring just four goals in six games.
In the Europa League, they’ve won every game but one so far. The only match they lost was against Sporting CP, but the 1-0 defeat wasn’t enough to overturn their 2-0 advantage from the first leg.
Having twice been beaten finalists in the Champions League over the past four seasons, the Spanish side certainly strong European pedigree. Alongside their formidable defence, Atletico also have French striker Antoine Griezmann who has been in impressive form this year, with 26 goals and 13 assists in 43 matches in all competitions.
Prediction:
Arsenal need a win at home to stand any chance of progressing to the final. And with the news of Arsene Wenger’s departure at the end of the season, a united fan base should drive the Gunners on to a win. A home win with both sides to score looks good at 4/1 with Betfair.