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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matt Maltby

Arsenal predicted line-up for Valencia clash in Europa League

Arsenal manager Unai Emery will hope to have Nacho Monreal fit for their Europa League semi-final first leg at home to Valencia on Thursday night.

The defender missed the weekend defeat to Leicester with a calf problem but trained on Wednesday.

Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) will not play for the club again, while Danny Welbeck (ankle), Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding (both knee) are all out for the season.

Emery is expected to field a strong-line up against the Spanish giants, with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line.

Mesut Ozil looks likely to play just behind the pair, while Petr Cech will come in for Bernd Leno as has been the case for the Europa League campaign.

Arsenal are preparing for their Europa League encounter (AFP/Getty Images)

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Valencia head coach Marcelino, meanwhile, insists Arsenal's current poor form will have no impact when the teams meet in their Europa League semi-final.

The Gunners host their La Liga opponents on Thursday night in the first leg of their last-four encounter.

Emery's side go into the game having lost their last three Premier League matches as they struggle to secure a return to the top-four.

Their hopes of playing Champions League football hang in the balance, with Europa League success another way of qualifying.

Gunners boss Unai Emery is bidding for European glory (Action Images via Reuters)

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But Marcelino says recent defeats to Crystal Palace , Wolves and Leicester are of no interest to him - instead pointing to Arsenal's comfortable quarter-final win over Napoli as his reference point.

"They easily eliminated Napoli," he said. "That is the reference for us. They are a great side with huge potential and are strong at home.

"It will be tough for us and I hope it will be for them as well. We need to play each minute as (if) it was the last.

"Past results don't matter. We know their players can adapt to these situations and they will want an advantage in the first leg. We are a tough team to play at our place - it is a tough stadium to go to."

Arsenal predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette.

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