Stick or twist? How do Arsenal approach Thursday's Europa League clash?

Bukayo Saka

Stick or twist? How do Arsenal approach Thursday's Europa League clash?

By Peter White

We may only be in February but in and around the Arsenal camp, this week's crunch Europa League last-32 second-leg clash against Benfica is surely being looked at as the pivotal moment of the 2020/21 season.  

Sunday’s 1-0 shortcoming against runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City marked the Gunners’ third defeat in four games and left them tenth, while Leeds United’s mid-week win over Southampton has since moved them into the bottom half of the standings.  

Crucially, Mikel Arteta’s charges sit six points adrift of the top-six and a further five behind fourth-placed West Ham, with only 13 games of the current Premier League campaign remaining.  

Any hopes of a route into next season’s European competition surely rest on success in this year’s Europa League, then, with Thursday’s hotly-anticipated encounter with the Portuguese giants representing something of a watershed moment.  

Win, and Arsenal will be just four ties away from being back among the big boys with a place in next season’s Champions League but lose and concerns about being able to retain and attract some of the best players on the continent will begin to brew.  

The contest against Benfica is finely poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Rome's Olympic Stadium, in which Bukayo Saka notched a quick equaliser in the 57th minute following Pizzi’s penalty two minutes earlier.  

And without the FA Cup to fall back on this year - Arsenal’s key to Europa League qualification last season - Saka warned that he and he and his teammates can’t afford a last-32 exit in the competition for a second successive season.  

Speaking to BT Sport, he said: “We can't put a foot wrong because if we do, we will make it difficult for ourselves. It's not the worst result, we got an away goal.”  

With such a crucial encounter now a matter of hours away, we consider Arteta’s likely approach ahead of kick-off in Athens’ Karaiskakis Stadium, which is hosting the match due to Covid-19 reasons.  


Arteta hints at changes

Arsenal suggested how highly they regarded the Benfica tie on their list of priorities by naming an unchanged XI for the first leg, following their impressive 4-2 win over Leeds back on league duty four days earlier.  

In what was the team’s first unchanged line-up since September 2018 the north Londoners showcased plenty of attacking intent, even if some of the side’s finishing left a lot to be desired.  

Arteta made five alterations to his starting XI for the visit of Manchester City last time out, with David Luiz, Gabriel, Cedric Soares, Dani Ceballos and Emile Smith Rowe all being given a well-deserved breather.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 

That perhaps was the first sign that Arteta had already started planning for the upcoming Europa League second-leg showdown, while he has since hinted that he intends to make further alterations to his team.  

He said: “I don’t know if it will be five, four or seven changes. We will have to see how the players react from the City performance.  

“Obviously we need a fresh team, and we need legs as well because then the decision-making and everything becomes better when they are fresh. We will see who’s available.  

“It's hard because everybody wants to play, and everybody wants to be available for every game. But there are a lot of players with fatigue, they played so many minutes and we don't have enough players to replace them, unfortunately.”  


How Arsenal could shape up in Athens

While each of the five left out from the start against City could make an immediate return to the XI, Arsenal fans will be perhaps hoping Kieran Tierney will be the one man to keep his place after making his first start in a month at the Emirates last time out.  

The 23-year-old combined positively with Saka down the left-hand side, and although the pair appeared somewhat fatigued towards the end of the game, Arteta will know that combination could be key to progression on Thursday night.  

Elsewhere Hector Bellerin looked off the pace in his eighth consecutive start, while both Martin Odegaard and skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struggled to make an impact on the game.  

While Aubameyang has been unable to find the net in his last two outings, that mesmerising hat-trick again Leeds earlier this month will surely see him retain his place ahead of Alexandre Lacazette.  

Nicolas Pepe has enjoyed the Europa League this season with three goals from his seven appearances in the competition, but expect him to be replaced by Emile Smith Rowe, after the former's underwhelming display at the weekend.  

As tired as some of Arsenal’s most valuable players may be, Arteta will surely be urging them to find their best form in the Greek capital, with the promise of a rest on domestic duty in weeks to come. Success in Europe is where it matters most now, after all.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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