This is now officially Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far as the trip to Valencia wil decide if we are still in with a chance of a trophy this season. It was at this time last year that we went to Atletico Madrid desperate for even a 0-0 draw to go through to the final, but alas it was not meant to be, and very few of us were surprised to be honest.
But this year we only need a draw or a defeat by one goal to ensure our progress, so I am feeling pretty sure that Unai Emery is going to park the proverbial bus until at least half-time, although one goal from us (like we did against Napoli) will stop the nerves completely.
We can have little confidence of coming away with the win given our current away form, but we shocked Napoli and we may be capable of doing the same again tonight. Valencia are odds on favourites with BetUK but Arsenal at 14/5 could be a very tasty bet if you are feeling brave.
With the comebacks from Liverpool and Tottenham making us Arsenal fans more nervous that usual, perhaps we should be considering that our opponents are seeing how well Premier League teams are playing and may be worried they could be in for a hammering? It is worth noting that Napoli are second in the very tough Serie A, but Valencia are only 5th in La Liga behind even Getafe as well as the top teams.
We have every chance of winning this, and hopefully setting up an all England Final in both European trophies.
Get on Arsenal to win at 14/5 from BetUK, and new customers get a free bet if signing up today…
There’s been a lot of negativity surrounding the Europa Cup however it’s still a competition I’d very much like to win. You all should have seen the scenes when we won the Inter City Fairs Cup (EUFA CUP) against Anderlecht in 1970. It was, even with the arrival of Arsene Wenger, the greatest and noisiest night ever at Highbury, 3-1 down from the first leg thanks to a late Ray Kennedy goal and then roared on by almost 60,000 a magnificent response in the home leg to win 3-0 with goals from Kelly, Radford and Sammels and the parties around Islington went on throughout the night. So lets all get behind the club in tonight’s semi final. It’s our biggest game of the season so far. COYG.
Nice info
Some of us are not old enough to see that big match, but hopefully we can see another great final
Today we won’t play at Highbury or Emirates, but I feel Emery has already had a plan to surprise his ex-club, because he is an EL specialist
Our European trophy cabinet is tiny. I would love to win this trophy. It’s obviously not UCL but it’s the 2nd best European trophy available and it does mean something. Arsenal need to start producing in Europe and it does have a special, unique feel to achieve something outside of England.
All true Kenny, save that the crowd was only 51000. Have always wondered why more were not there! The noise was terrific and it felt like a hundred thousand were there.
My prediction is Valencia 1 – 1 Arsenal:
……………………………Cech
…………….Mustafi . Koscielny . Monreal
Maitland-Niles . Torreira . Xhaka . Kolasinac
…………………………….Ozil
……….Aubameyang …………… Lacazette
No Ozil please. We need someone who can track back and defend as playing 3 in the back leaves only tow midfielders and we get run over with Ozil as 10.
Although they are not better players I prefer Iwobi or even Mhki there to start the game.
I also want Iwobi to play as CAM behind the two strikers, because he could do hold up play like Giroud
But I think Emery doesn’t trust Iwobi in that position or maybe he doesn’t want to upset Ozil and Mkhitaryan by benching them
we’ll miss his “creativity” though >_>
Jim Have you not noticed that Mkhi is every bit as lazy as Ozil and far less talented, even on the rare occasion either of these two slackers can be bothered to try?
With all the shock results happening all over the Europeans tournaments, I just hope we are prepared for this one. Valencia will be encouraged by what had happened in the champions league. Our boys better not shock cos I have absolutely no confidence in this set.of players
This beautiful game lends itself to many “what if” moments.
What if Arsenal when Europa and then go on to win UEFA Super cup?
If I were a betting man I would bet on an Arsenal los or at most a draw.
Reasons
1. As far as I can remember we only have one win in about ten matches away to spanish opposition.
2. We have a poor away form.
3. We shock under pressure and trust me Valencia are gong to pile the pressure. I sincerely hope we atleast get a goal. If we don’t score we will almost certainly lose the game.
All I want to see is every player put a shift in & show us they can play some decent stuff… take their chances & get a good result.
It’s been tough lately, really tough… we need a result tonight, because after the last 2 days, I’m so unhappy & am in desperate need of cheering up! Please Arsenal, no sloppy defending, stupid brain farts, just please get the job done & we can finally look forward to a European final COYG
Oh and come on Frankfurt
14/5 IS A RIDICULOUS PRICE AND FAR TOO SHORT FOR US REALISTS. My advice, as someone who knows the football betting market and strategies for winning, FAR better than the article writer ( who uses it only for making money for his site and NOT for disinterested advice) is to ignore the game tonight concerning ANY bets at all. I have chosen to leave it alone and do so from much knowledge of true odds. keep your money for another day my friends!
absolutely shameful and immoral from the admins of this page to promote betting. each to their own, but, there are many impressionable people on here , and, i fear , that, they may be persuaded to go down the slippery slope of gambling. i am appealing to the admin to stop this weekly nonsense of putting betting information up on this hallowed page. after all, what has betting info got to do with the arsenal. please sir, i beg you to cease advocating this potentially life altering nonsense.
gerry burke, As you say “each to their own” but I disagree with you chastising someone merely for promoting something that you personally disapprove of doing. Do you never drink; eat too much sugar, are overweight ,smoke, drive a polluting vehicle and so on? Where do you draw the line if you are sole arbiter of what is allowable or not on here? All I ask from people, including this sites admin, is total honesty as they perceive it. There are so many double standards everywhere but we should also recognise that a degree of hypocrisy is a normal and natural part of our shared human condition. I very much include myself in this. By the way, there “are impressionable people” galore on EVERY social media site but no single person can be held responsible for this!