UEFA Europa League Preview – Arsenal vs Napoli/Slavia Prague vs Chelsea, Thursday 11th April 2019

Will Arsenal be caught napping against Napoli in Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final, at 8pm on BT Sport 2?

Given that the weekend’s loss at Everton has pushed the Gunners out of the league’s top 4 – admittedly 3rd place Chelsea have played one more fixture – they could do with keeping another avenue open to next season’s Champions League.

Though they sailed through the Europa League group stages – unbeaten and with only 1 goal conceded – Arsenal stumbled in both the last-32 and last-16. The issue was the same in both rounds; a 1-0 loss in Belarus was followed by a comfortable home victory over BATE Borisov, while a shambolic 3-1 defeat in Rennes was wiped away with a 3-0 win at the Emirates.

Both sets of results were emblematic of the club’s big mental block on the road this season; in fact, Arsenal have only won 9 games in 21 fixtures away from home across all competitions, Sunday’s slip-up at Goodison Park the latest example.

This time out they won’t have the comfort of a 2nd leg at the Emirates, meaning they really need to set their stall out on Thursday night. Especially since Napoli have lost just once at home this season, and are yet to taste defeat at the Stadio San Paolo in Europe.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has 22 goals in 2018/19 heads into the quarter-final at a Super Mega PGM of 39-46, only narrowly ahead of Poland’s Arkadiusz Milik, whose 19 goals leaves him at a spread of 33-39.

If Unai Emery is to repeat his Europa League success in his first season at his new club, then a strong result on Thursday seems vital. Spreadex are offering an Arsenal/Napoli Goal Supremacy spread of 0.1-0.3, alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.85-3.05.

At the same time as the Gunners take on Maurizio Sarri’s former club, his Chelsea are off to Slavia Prague, at 8pm on BT Sport 3. Though they wobbled as February turned into March, the Blues seem to be back in their stride, winning their last 3 league games on the trot.

Chelsea are also yet to lose a game in Europe, with 9 wins and 1 draw. They were at their best in the last round, thumping Dynamo Kiev 8-0 on aggregate, the 2nd leg complete coming complete with a hat-trick from Olivier Giroud, whose Super Mega PGM of 31-37 sits behind Gonzalo Higuain’s 35-41 and Eden Hazard’s 37-43.

Thursday’s Czech hosts shouldn’t be underestimated. They fought their way through the group stages, only narrowly finishing 2nd to Zenit Saint Petersburg, beat Genk 4-1 in Belgium in the last-32, before eventually seeing off Europa League all-timers Sevilla in extra time in March.

They may struggle on Thursday, however, with Spreadex offering a Chelsea/Slavia Prague (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.75-0.95, alongside an average target price of 2.55-2.75.