Arsenal Vs Valencia Europa League 02 May Preview
Arsenal are gifted a chance to put their dismal recent run of form behind them and make a strong case against Valencia in what is tagged the biggest tie of the Europa league semis.
Arsenal
Only two weeks ago, the Gunners were riding on the crest of the wave of a 1-0 win over Napoli making six wins from seven games but since then things have gone south for the North London club.
Unai Emery has left Arsenal fans baffled by some of his decisions which have seen them concede three goals in each of their last three defeats.
Arsenal lost at home to Crystal Palace by a 3-2 scoreline, 3-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers before a terrible 3-0 loss to Leicester City last weekend to give hints that they have gone off the boil.
More worryingly, they seem to be clueless as to what and how this happened or developed in the first place.
It is becoming highly likely that the success of Unai Emery first season at the helm of affairs will be dictated by their performance in the Europa league and he will be taking no chances.
Recent form: W W W L L L
SEE ALSO: Eintracht Frankfurt Vs Chelsea Europa League 02 May Preview
Valencia
Valencia just like their opponents had their eyes fixed on a top-four finish but back-to-back losses with the first being a 3-2 loss to Atletico Madrid and the other a 1-0 loss to Eibar has seen them drop to sixth position on the Laliga standings.
This is the first European semi-final for the Spanish club since the 2013/2014 campaign where they got to this stage only to be pushed out of the competition by Sevilla by current Arsenal boss, Unai Emery.
Speak of managerial stats, Marcelino has developed a reputation for being a difficult man to beat in this competition with only one defeat in his last 19 matches in charge.
Arsenal have kept nine clean sheets from their last 11 games and Valencia will be willing to keep that scorecard read nine still.
Recent form: W W W W L L
Possible Starting Line-Up
Arsenal
Cech; Monreal, Koscielny, Sokratis; Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette
Valencia
Neto; Gaya, Paulista, Garay, Wass; Guedes, Parejo, Soler, Torres; Moreno, Mina
