Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven
After a quiet weekend in English football, Europa League action returns to the Emirates on Thursday when Arsenal take on PSV Eindhoven in their second match of the tournament.
A 2-1 win away to Zurich got the Gunners off to a winning start while Eindhoven drew 1-1 at home to Bodo Glimt, and this match will be another good test of Mikel Arteta’s young team. The Europa League 2022 betting odds have pitched Arsenal as tournament favourites at odds of 6.20, and the competition is one of the options Arsenal have to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
They have started brilliantly in the league, winning the first five games before suffering a surprise defeat to Manchester United last week. That loss sees Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur breathing down Arsenal’s necks and Arteta will have one eye on the next league fixture when he picks his starting 11 to face Eindhoven.
The Dutch side have made a strong start to their domestic league and will be keen to keep the points rolling in for their European challenge.
Talking Points
Gunners’ squad depth is looking good
With an away game against Brentford on the agenda, Arteta will use his squad players in the Europa League. The Gunners’ scheduled clash with Everton last weekend was postponed, so his team has had time to recuperate, but the boss will stick with many of the youngsters who succeeded in their opener in Zurich.
Eddie Nketiah and Marquinhos were on target in Switzerland, and they will start. We may well also see young Brazilian striker, Gabriel Martinelli, get some game time as Arsenal attempt to see off PSV.
28-year-old USA keeper Matt Turner gave Aaron Ramsdale a rest in Zurich and he is likely to don the gloves again while wing-back Kieran Tierney, who missed much of last season through injury, is likely to start, and midfield enforcer Granit Xhaka looks set to take the captain’s armband on the night.
Club captain Martin Odegaard, utility man Oleksandr Zinchenko and star striker Gabriel Jesus may all start on the bench, but they could get some minutes if the game is tight.
Van Nistelrooy knows all about Arsenal
PSV head coach Ruud Van Nistelrooy is not Arsenal’s biggest fan as he was on the end of one of the most iconic bouts of abuse from an opponent when his team, Manchester United, faced fierce rivals Arsenal in 2003.
In his five years at Old Trafford, Van Nistelrooy earned legendary status, scoring 95 goals in 150 games. But he missed a last-minute penalty in a bad tempered 0-0 draw and Arsenal centre-back, and now TV pundit Martin Keown, took great delight in jumping all over the Dutch striker yelling all manner of obscenities into his ear.
So the PSV boss would like nothing more than to put one over the young Gunners.
He took over as boss at Eindhoven in March 2022 to replace Roger Schmidt and led his team to a second-place finish. And they have started well this season, with five wins and a defeat so far, which sits them in third place behind 100 per-centers Ajax, and Feyenoord who have five wins and a draw.
23-year-old striker Cody Gakpo already made some Europa League 2022 highlights when he scored PSV’s equaliser in their opening day draw with Bodo Glimt. A recent 6-1 win away to Excelsior followed by a 7-1 home victory over Volendam shows that Nistelrooy’s forwards certainly know where the goal is and Gakpo leads the Eredivisie top scorers list with seven goals and three assists, while attacking midfielder Xavi Simons is second with six goals and two assists.
And Arsenal fans will recognise the threat of 27-year-old winger Anwar El Ghazi; he scored 15 goals in 71 appearances for Aston Villa before moving to Eindhoven in the summer.
History
Eindhoven are 24 times Eredivisie winners, most recently in 2018, and they have European pedigree, winning the European Cup (the forerunner of the Champions League) in 1988 and the UEFA Cup (pre-Europa League) in 1978.
And of course, Arsenal are aristocrats of the English game as 13 times top-flight winners and 14 times FA Cup holders. But they have had more modest success in Europe than their opponents with just a 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup triumph to remember. The Gunners came close twice, losing the Champions League final to Barcelona in 2006 and then taking a 4-1 hiding at the hands of London rivals Chelsea in the 2019 Europa League final.
The two teams have met on five occasions, winning once each and drawing three. They last encountered each other in the 2007 Champions League Round of 16, when a 1-0 win in Eindhoven was enough to see the Dutch side through when they went on the draw 1-1 in the second leg at the Emirates.
In terms of recent form, Arsenal have won five of the last six while Eindhoven have won three, drawn one and lost two over the same period, and the Gunners have won their last seven games at the Emirates.
Betting Tip
At SBOTOP odds of 1.38 to win Arteta’s side should make this two from two against an Eindhoven side which can be backed at 5.03 to win or 4.54 to Draw. For an alternative bet, a 2-0 home win at odds of 5.80 is the most likely outcome alongside 1-0 at a similar price. And for the Dutch fans, PSV Eindhoven, Double Chance Win or Draw is available at odds of 2.48.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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