Europa League action kicks off tonight and all eyes will be on the Emirates as two of the three favourites to lift the trophy square-off in the quarter finals.
In the last two rounds, Arsenal have qualified the hard way, losing both first legs in Belarus and France. This time, however, the Gunners find themselves at home in the first leg and will look to build an advantage ahead of the return match in Italy.
The Gunners are still scrapping for Champions League qualification in the Premier League, and their hopes were dented after a loss to Everton at the weekend. Napoli find themselves 20 points adrift of Serie A leaders Juventus and solidly in second spot, seven points ahead of their nearest rivals.
Napoli faced Salzburg in the last round and looked to be breezing through to the quarter finals. Up 3-0 after the home leg, they stretched their lead to 4-0 on aggregate early in the second. Salzburg mounted a comeback scoring three unanswered, but the Italians held on to win 4-3 overall.
The teams last faced each other in the group stages of the Champions League in 2013/14, where the home side was victorious 2-0 on both occasions. Napoli arrive at the Emirates with two wins in their last six matches in all competitions and historically do not travel well to these shores, having never won a competitive game against an English side.
GIVEMEBET looks into the match-up and what you might expect to happen tonight:
- They may have lost at the weekend at Everton, but Arsenal are formidable at home, turning the Emirates into a fortress. In 2019, the Gunners have won nine of their 10 home matches scoring 26 goals in the process and winning 6 games without conceding. Arsenal to win to nil is 33/10.
- The visitors started their season in the Champions League in a tough group consisting of Liverpool and PSG. Narrowly missing out on qualification to the knock-out stages, their three matches combined for only 5 goals, with four coming in their visit to Paris. The hosts have scored three times in back-to-back home matches in the Europa League, however, Napoli presents a different step up in class altogether and goals could be scarce in a tentative first leg. Under 2.5 goals is 11/10.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looks to have recovered from an illness which has kept him limited to a bench role for the past two matches. Manager Unai Emery has hinted he could get the start tonight and the Gabonese has had 3+ shots in 13 of the last 20 matches he has started. Aubameyang total shots over 2.5 is 4/5.
All odds accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to fluctuation. T&C’s apply. 18+. www.begambleaware.org