Gunning down the Bats
Arsenal and Valencia face off at The Emirates in their first Europa League semi-final leg. Both teams have recently hit slumps in their respective domestic leagues which was unthinkable a fortnight ago meaning that this tie is very much open and up for grabs.
Arsenal
What a torrid few weeks it's been for the Arsenal faithful. It all kicked off with an away loss to Everton which they actually followed up with a lucky win away at Watford but naturally, being Arsenal, they had to follow that up with an unexplainable 2-3 defeat at home to Crystal Palace. To top it all off the Gunners extended their abysmal away form by getting demolished 3-1 at Wolverhampton and 3-0 at Leicester.
However, the pace and intensity in the PL is wildly different to that of La Liga and the rest of continental Europe which falls into Arsenals hands perfectly and their stats show it. Emery's men have so far won 9, drawn 1 and lost 2 in this years EL edition but most impressive was their display against a very capable Napoli side, the southern Italians had an incredibly hard time against Arsenals fast paced game and ultimately fell with a 3-0 aggregate score.
A big factor and explanation in Arsenal's recent slump in form has to do with their packed schedule, fixtures against a team of Napoli's calibre whilst having to travel in the PL a few days later is not easy and Arsenal don't really have the depth in squad to handle it at the moment. Despite it all, this is a massive game and a lot is on the line, I fully expect Arsenal to regroup and show why they've gotten this far.
Notable absentees
Bellerin, Suarez, Holding, Ramsey and Welbz.
Valencia
Los Ches recently entered a slump that has proven to be very costly, they have temporarily forfeited their Champions League spot and find themselves in 6th, 3 points behind Sevilla in 4th. They've lost 3 of their last 5 games but prior to that were on an incredibly impressive run of 12 games without defeat.
The Bats saw off an underperforming Villarreal side in their last leg with an aggregate score of 5-1 but the score does not reflect the game at all with Villarreal missing a host of clear-cut chances which a side with more quality, like Arsenal, would not let slip. Valencia have shipped at least one goal in their last 6 fixtures and they go up against an Arsenal side who score for fun at home in the EL meaning that if they want a shot at advancing to the final, they have to dig deep and come up with a massive performance at the Emirates on Thursday.
A huge boost is however that Arsenal seem frail at the moment, their defence is leaking and the confidence is not at an all time high meaning that Marcelino's men could not be facing their English opponents at a better time.
Notable absentees
Cheryshev, Coquelin, Kondogbia, Lee Kang-In and Piccini.
Arsenal - Valencia betting tip
Due to Arsenals superior home stats in both the PL and EL i am backing an Arsenal win at 1/1 with Bethard.
Another bet that has great value is Over 2.5 goals at 19/20.
