UEL Preview: Villarreal vs Arsenal – Key stats, line-ups, odds, prediction

Unai Emery-Villarreal

Unai Emery will welcome his former club Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.

Stadium: Estadio de la Ceramica

Key Statistics

  • Villarreal hadn’t beaten Arsenal in all of their previous four meetings in European competitions (L2 D2)
  • Arsenal have reached the semi-finals 10 times in European competitions and also the third time in their last four Europa League campaigns.
  • Villarreal will play their first semi-final since the 2015/16 season while having been eliminated from all of their European semi-final ties.

Villarreal

Villarreal have been highly impressive this season under Unai Emery, who has breathed a fresh air to his managerial career after his forgetful stint at Arsenal.

Currently seventh in the La Liga table, the Yellow Submarine maintained a healthy run in the Europa League, beating the likes of Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb in the knockouts.

Gerard Moreno will be the focal point of the attack and would look to continue his impressive goalscoring form. The Spaniard has racked up a total of 26 goals across La Liga and Europa League. 

Besides, Moreno’s compatriot Pau Torres is another player to watch out for as the young centre-back is one of the sought-after players in Europe at present.

Possible line-ups

 Geronimo Rulli; Alfonso Pedraza, Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Juan Foyth; Etienne Capoue, Manu Trigueros, Dani Parejo; Gerard Moreno, Carlos Bacca, Samuel Chukwueze

Arsenal

Arsenal couldn’t have dreamt of such a horrible season in the Premier League, currently 10th in the table.

However, Mikel Arteta and co can still have a shot at redemption if they continue their impressive Europa League form.

Perhaps, the victories they had in the previous round suggest another story of the Gunners, but Villarreal will be their biggest test yet.

However, the North Londoners will enter the game with a depleted squad as the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, could sit out the game due to injuries.

Possible line-ups

Bernd Leno; Rob Holding, Granit Xhaka, Pablo Mari, Hector Bellerin; Thomas Partey, Dani Ceballos; Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe; Eddie Nketiah

Betting Odds

Villarreal : Draw : Arsenal :: 2.56 : 3.30 : 2.80

Villarreal GoalArsenal GoalBetting Odds
116.00
108.50
018.50
009.50
2110.00

Prediction

Villarreal 2 – 1 Arsenal