Villarreal hosts Arsenal in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals. The match will be played on Thursday, April 29th at Estadio de la Ceramica (Villarreal)
Villarreal, which finished 1st in the group stage of the Europa League, eliminated Salzburg (0- 2 and 2-1), Dynamo Kyiv (0-2 and 2-0), and Dinamo Zagreb (0-1 and 2-1) in the knockout rounds. The Yellow Submarine will play in the Europa League semifinals for the first time since the 2015/16 season. As for the Spanish Championship, Unai Emery’s team retains good chances to finish in the European Cup zone. Villarreal is in 7th place in the standings (49 points after 33 rounds), which gives the right to participate in the playoffs of the new European Cup - the Conference League. However, the Yellows can get into the Champions League if they win the Europa League. The results in the last rounds of La Liga do not please the fans. After the away defeat to Alaves (1-2), Villarreal did not cope with Barcelona at home (1-2). In the last match, the only goal was scored by Samuel Chukwueze, who upset the opponents’ goalkeepers three times in three previous games.
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Arsenal, which took 1st place in Group B, beat Benfica (1-1 and 3-2), Olympiacos (3-1 and 0-1), and Slavia Prague (1-1 and 0-4). The Gunners will play in the semifinals of the Europa League for the third time in four years. But they are likely to finish outside the European Cup zone in the Premier League. The Londoners, who have 46 points after 33 rounds, lag nine points behind the Champions League zone and are eight points behind the top six. And there are only five rounds left. The Europa League Cup is the only chance to prettify the disastrous season and qualify for the Champions League. Arsenal's prospects in the Premier League have been virtually nullified following a home defeat to Everton last Friday (0-1). The outcome of the match was decided by the gross mistake of the Gunners' goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who turned a ball into his own net in the 76th minute.
The opponents are equally matched. Villarreal won 11 victories and one draw in 12 matches of the current Europa League. And the Yellows gained six wins at home. The Gunners have failed in the Premier League, but they have only one defeat and two draws in 12 Europa League matches. Moreover, Arsenal is very strong away (five victories and one draw in six games). The English team regularly concedes goals due to the unstable game of the defenders and the goalkeeper. The Londoners have taken the ball out of their net in 16 out of 18 last games, so it is likely that the Submarine will score at least once. At the same time, Villarreal itself does not shine in defense. The Yellow Submarine exchanged goals with its opponents in the last five consecutive matches. And we think this trend will continue.
Prediction for the match: Both teams to score - yes
