Valencia are hoping to pull off a memorable fightback when they host Premier League side Arsenal at Estadio de Mestalla on Thursday in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final tie. The Gunners grabbed a 3-1 victory in the first leg last week, Valencia opened the scoring early on through Mouctar Diakhaby but then Alexandre Lacazette bagged a double and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a late goal for the home side. Before that match these two teams had last met during the 2002-2003 season in the UEFA Champions League second group stage, Valencia won 2-1 on Spanish soil after having snatched a goalless draw in London.
Valencia are battling on two fronts at the moment, and both battles have the same target: taking part in next season's UEFA Champions League. They could qualify through their finish in LaLiga if they manage to end up in fourth place, but at the moment they are three points behind fourth-placed Getafe. They could also qualify by winning the Europa League, but that seems quite a long shot at the moment given their defeat in the first leg. Last weekend they had a bit of fun in a 6-2 LaLiga victory at already relegated Huesca, good practice for the goal scorers but the Gunners will surely be a lot tougher to beat. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Denis Cheryshev are sidelined for the visitors.
Arsenal don't have anything else to fight for during the final days of the season, the Europa League remains their only target after last weekend's 1-1 home draw against Brighton in the Premier League. The Gunners could have moved just one point behind fourth-placed Tottenham before the final match of the season, but their poor performance against Brighton guarantees them a place outside the top four. The Gunners have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions, and that was the first leg against Valencia. Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin, Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey are still out injured.
Probable line-ups:
Valencia: Neto - Piccini, Garay, Paulista, Gaya - Soler, Coquelin, Parejo, Guedes - Moreno, Mina
Arsenal: Cech - Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny - Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Kolasinac - Iwobi, Mkhitaryan - Lacazette
My prediction: Valencia to win 3-1, this match will most likely go to extra time and might be decided on penalties as the Gunners can't really defend.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Valencia win - 1.83
Draw - 4.00
Arsenal win - 3.75
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