Arsenal will entertain Rennes at the Emirates Stadium tonight hoping to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie. The Gunners were dismal last week when they lost the plot away at France after Sokratis was sent off just before half-time in that game.
However, Unai Emery’s men managed to come up with a positive response at the weekend as they beat an in-form Manchester United team with a 2-0 scoreline. The North London giants will be quietly confident about their chances in the second leg versus Rennes as long as they can get off to a fast start tonight.
Emery is expected to opt for a strong team for this European encounter and will be boosted by the availability of Alexandre Lacazette who has been cleared to feature in this match. However, the French striker might not be used from the start due to the incredible form of Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Emery has shown in the recent past that he fancies playing Ozil from the beginning of the match when Arsenal need more creativity and invention at home.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will likely get the nod to lead the line for the Gunners up front due to his stellar goal-scoring record at the Emirates Stadium.
As long as Arsenal can keep a clean sheet against Rennes, they should be confident about scoring two goals which will take them through tonight.
But it won’t be easy by any means as they won’t have the services of Sokratis who is suspended for this clash. Hence, Shkodran Mustafi will get another run-out alongside Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the Gunners backline.
Emery has to ensure that his team settles into the game from the get-go and score a few early goals so that they can take Rennes out of their comfort zone on the night. Furthermore, the Gunners boss should opt for either Nacho Monreal or Stephan Lichtsteiner to feature in central defence in place of Mustafi as the German centre-back always has an error in him.
Lacazette should be Arsenal’s back-up option just in case they are not able to be productive in the first half. Furthermore, sticking with a 4-2-3-1 formation could be ideal for this game as playing a back three will only encourage Rennes to keep possession in their own half. The fate of this Europa League tie hinges on whether the Arsenal players turn up on the night so as long as Emery’s men perform at their best, they should have enough in their locker to secure qualification into the next round.
