UEFA Europa League Preview – Arsenal vs Valencia/Eintracht Frankfurt vs Chelsea, Thursday 2nd May 2019

So far it’s been a bad week for English sides in European semi-finals – can Arsenal and Chelsea change that on Thursday night?

Seemingly determined to finish outside the Premier League top 4, the Gunners are going through a dreadful patch of form; they host Valencia at 8pm on BT Sport 2. The club has lost its last 3 games in a row, conceding 3 goals in each: first was a home defeat to Crystal Palace, followed by away losses at Wolves and Leicester, continuing Arsenal’s abysmal record on the road this season.

The one real bright spot in April was the relatively efficient manner in which they dispatched of Napoli in the Europa League quarter-finals, beating the Italian side 3-0 on aggregate, a pair of victories that included their first away win of the knockouts.

Somewhat fortunately, Valencia are also in a bit of a dry spell, losing their last 2 La Liga games to Atletico Madrid and Eibar. As for the Europa League run, they entered the competition after being dumped out of the Champions League group stages, beating Celtic, Krasnodar and Villarreal on route to the semis.

With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – who is vying for the Golden Boot in the Premier League – at a Super Mega PGM of 42-49, the Gunners will be hoping to nose ahead on Thursday, with Spreadex offering an Arsenal/Valencia Goal Supremacy spread of 0.35-0.55, alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.5-2.7.

While not quite as severe as Arsenal’s nosedive, Chelsea – who travel to Eintracht Frankfurt at 8pm on BT Sport 3 – are also without a win in their 3 games. A mid-April loss at Liverpool was followed by draws against Burnley and Man United; yet thanks to the failings of those around them, the Blues have managed to cling onto 4th place in the league.

Though they almost messed up in the 2nd leg of their quarter-final against Slavia Prague, Chelsea have tended to save their best form for Europe, with 11 wins and one draw across the competition so far. Frankfurt have been also as strong, with victories over Lazio, Marseille, Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan. Their one defeat came at Benfica, and even then the 4-2 finish helped them go through on away goals after winning 2-0 at home.

Having banged in 25 goals this season, including 8 in the Europa League, Luka Jovic leads with a Super Mega PGM of 30-36, ahead of Eden Hazard’s 25-30 and the 20-24 shared by Olivier Giroud and Gonzalo Higuain.

The Blues should be able to continue their unbeaten streak in Europe, with Spreadex offering a slender Chelsea/Eintracht Frankfurt (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.1-0.3, alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.45-2.65.