Arsenal and Villarreal meet on Thursday night with all to play for in the Europa League semi-final second leg. Arsenal need to come from behind as they go into this match 2-1 down on aggregate against Villarreal.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE COVERAGE
The Europa League semi-final between Arsenal and Villarreal is intriguingly poised heading into the second leg with the Gunners having turned a woeful performance in Spain into a 2-1 defeat that gives them hope of progress thanks to Nicolas Pepe’s precious second half away goal.
Unai Emery has not lost a two-legged Europa League tie since 2012 and his side showed in the first leg that they have the cutting edge to net the away goal at the Emirates Stadium that would turn this tie dramatically in their favor. The scene is set for a thrilling European tie in north London.
All Europa League games can be streamed live and on demand on Paramount+. A special edition of “The Golazo Show,” the live whip-around program featuring every goal from every match, will air live on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know:
Viewing information
Date: Thursday, May 6 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Emirates Stadium — London, United Kingdom
TV: Paramount+
Live Stream: Watch Live Free Here
Storylines
Arsenal: Speaking in his pre-match press conference Mikel Arteta was unsurprisingly coy on the status of key first-team players who may yet return to the fold for this must win game. Kieran Tierney and Alexandre Lacazette trained with the squad in full on Tuesday but their manager would not discuss whether they might be available. However he did have words of encouragement on the potential availability of David Luiz.
“With David, it is always possible,” Arteta said of the center-back whose season seemed to be over when he limped out of Sunday’s win over Newcastle, the first he had played in since knee surgery in April, with a hamstring injury. “He was already saying before the game that he wanted to be available. He has made an incredible effort to be in the position that he is today. The fact that he played against Newcastle was already a big bonus, because he had surgery on his knee.”
Luiz may not be without his errors but his range of passing is crucial to Arsenal’s build-up play and his partnership with Gabriel is as consistent a defensive duo as is available to Arteta. Having the veteran Brazilian available would be an almighty boost to the Gunners’ hopes.
What is the team news?
The Gunners will be without Dani Ceballos after his red card in the first leg, while David Luiz is also sidelined through injury. Kieran Tierney and Alexandre Lacazette remain unlikely to feature from the start too, having only returned to full training on Tuesday.
Like Ceballos, Etienne Capoue was sent-off a week ago and will miss this game, suspended. Juan Foyth is a doubt after missing the weekend game, while Vicente Iborra is out.
Predicted line-ups
ARS – Leno; Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Xhaka; Elneny, Thomas; Pepe, Smith Rowe, Saka; Aubameyang
VIL – Rulli; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Chukwueze, Parejo, Coquelin, Trigueros; Moreno, Alcacer
Team news
Kieran Tierney and Alexandre Lacazette look set to miss out on tonight’s match while David Luiz looks to join them in the treatment room after he was taken off against Newcastle United.
For Villarreal, Etienne Capoue was stretchered off in the last game but was shown the red card and his spot might be taken up by Francis Coquelin.
