Arsenal was the stand-out performer in the second round of the 2019/20 Europa League last night, as Unai Emery hopes to take his team one step further than last season’s runner up position.
The Gunners lost to Chelsea in the final last season by 4-1, and players of the class of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will not want to miss out on the top European competition again.
This is a huge opportunity for some of Europe’s best sides. Not only is it a chance for silverware, it opens the door to the Champions League for the eventual winner and Emery’s team has as good a chance as anyone.
The latest Europa League 2019 betting odds here at SBOBET pitch Arsenal as joint-favourite at odds of 5.50 alongside Premier League rival Manchester United.
Five-time winner Sevilla are at 13.00, with Serie A giants Roma and Lazio at 17.00 and 31.00.
All five of those teams expect to be in the Champions League, particularly the two English clubs. Arsenal was never out of the top four during the 20-year reign of Arsene Wenger, while Manchester United was one on Europe’s dominant forces during Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure.
But these are different times, and the Red Devils in particular, will struggle to reach a top-four place in the Premier League this season.
Where is Mesut Ozil?
Arsenal beat Standard Liege 4-0 to go top of Group F — ahead of 1980 winners Eintracht Frankfurt — with Gabriel Martinelli hitting a brace while Dani Ceballos and Joe Willock scored one each.
But there was no sign of Mesut Ozil. Even though the boss made ten changes from the side which drew with Manchester United on Monday, the German winger still didn’t make the squad.
Emery insists he picked his side purely on merit, saying: “When I decided he shouldn’t be in the squad it’s because I think other players deserved it more.”
“He needs to keep working. Tomorrow we have training with the players who didn’t play, and on Sunday we have another match (against Bournemouth), and we are going to decide the same,” he added.
Ozil is a player who needs to feel the love, and I’m not sure he’s getting it from Unai! On his day he can be a match-winner, but it looks like Arsenal is going to try to win without the most expensive player in the club’s history.
The future could be the likes of Martinelli, who scored two goals in his full debut in the Carabao Cup win over Nottingham Forest last week.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils played out a 0-0 draw away to AZ Alkmaar and trail FK Partisan on goals scored in a competitive looking Group L. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played a lot of his young players but he’ll be worried that they didn’t register a single shot on target.
But the owners at Old Trafford need to play the long game and give Ole time, this is not a time to get trigger happy.
Rome sides make a steady start
Roma and Lazio are both desperate to return to Champions League football too. However, after six games in Serie A, they sit fifth and sixth with Inter Milan, Juventus, Atalanta and Napoli occupying the top four places again.
In the Europa League, Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio bagged a first group win last night, while Roma won a useful point in Wolfsburg as the Italian challenge clicks into gear.
This can be a strong Lazio side on its day — pushing Serie A league leaders Inter Milan in a recent clash — and a 2-1 win against Rennes has put them in contention in Group E.
Paulo Fonseca’s Roma is joint top of Group J, on four points alongside Wolfsberger AC after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw
After back-to-back La Liga defeats, Sevilla came back with an impressive win over in-form Real Sociedad last weekend. Julen Lopetegui’s team followed that up by beating Apoel 1-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium last night and that puts the Spanish side in charge of Group A.
Meanwhile, Getafe has started well with two wins to top Group C and striker Angel Rodriguez is joint top scorer in the competition with three goals.
Among the remaining Europa League 2019 results this week, two former European Cup winners clashed in Group G as Feyenoord overcame Porto 2-0, with Jens Toornstra and Rick Kardsorp on target.
With Young Boys beating Steven Gerrard’s Rangers in Bern, that leaves all four teams locked on three points.
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