Sports Blog 03/05/2018: UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg Preview – Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal, Thursday 3rd May 2018

Can Arsenal craft the perfect end to Arsene Wenger’s tenure by coming out of Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano with a place in the Europa League final?

Wenger’s closing run as head-Gunner isn’t going exactly to plan. Though the club reacted to news of the manager’s departure with a 4-1 victory over West Ham, since then they’ve perhaps shown why Wenger is going in the first place. And while Sunday’s loss to Man United may, on paper, seem worse than last week’s semi-final 1st leg draw at the Emirates, the latter is arguably the far more frustrating result.



Atletico played that fixture with only 10 men for 80 minutes, with Arsenal having a huge 76% of possession and 28 attempts on goal. Yet by the end of it the Spaniard still managed to come away from London with the upper hand, Antoine Griezmann’s late equaliser gifting Atletico a potentially tie-deciding away goal.

Now Arsenal need to score to stand a chance of reaching the Lyon-set final in a fortnight. While that doesn’t sound too hard, the Gunners have been pretty damn woeful on the road in 2018. Admittedly in Europe they’ve not been too bad, with their win over AC Milan at the San Siro a highlight. However, since the year began they’ve lost all 6 of their Premier League games away from home. Add onto that the fact Atletico haven’t actually conceded at the Wanda Metropolitano in their Europa League run, and Arsenal have their work cut out for them.

Still without the cup-tied Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal’s best bet for a goal is seemingly Alexandre Lacazette, at a Super Mega PGM of 21-26, even if Aaron Ramsey is actually the club’s top scorer in the Europa League this season, the Welshman at a spread of 9-13. These prices pale in comparison to Griezmann’s, however, with the French forward at a Super Mega PGM of 37-43.

It looks like the Gunners may be in for heartbreak this Thursday, with Spreadex offering an Atletico Madrid/Arsenal Goal Supremacy spread of 0.55-0.75 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6 and a feisty Bookings spread of 58-62.