Arsenal vs Valencia
Uefa Europa League 2018-19 | Semi-final, first leg
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick-off time: 8:00pm BST, tonight
Arsenal will look to divert attention away from their concerning domestic form when they host Valencia in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals tonight.
The Gunners have lost four of their last five Premier League matches - a run that includes three straight losses at the hands of Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester.
That run has left their hopes of a top four finish in real jeopardy - they remain fifth and two points adrift of Chelsea with only two matches left to play.
Their best chance of securing qualification for next season's Champions League camopaign is Europa League success - they can take a huge step towards that with victory tonight.
Follow all the action from the Emirates with Standard Sport's LIVE blog!
Arsenal vs Valencia team news and predicted line-up
Juventus-bound midfielder Aaron Ramsey had played his last game for Arsenal as the result of a hamstring tear suffered against Napoli, while Barcelona loanee Denis Suarez will also not feature again this season due to persistent groin trouble.
However, Mesut Ozil is expected to return after missing the 3-0 defeat to Leicester with a bruised foot, while Nacho Monreal could be involved following a calf issue.
Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin (both knee) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) are long-term absentees.
Emery - who managed Thursday's opponents for four years between 2008-12 - may have accidentally given away his team selection and tactics after his notes were photographed at an open training session, with the likes of Carl Jenkinson and Konstantinos Mavropanos seemingly getting the nod in a 3-4-3 formation.
However, that could easily be a red herring.
Arsenal are likely to come up against a familiar face in Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Paulista, but former Gunners midfielder Francis Coquelin is suspended.
Denis Cheryshev and Geoffrey Kondogbia remain out for Valencia, who welcome back right-back Cristiano Piccini following injury.
Arsenal XI (3-4-1-2): Cech, Mustafi, Koscielny, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang
Valencia XI (4-4-2): Neto, Piccini, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya, Soler, Parejo, Wass, Guedes, Gameiro, Rodrigo
Score prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Valencia
Arsenal have endured a truly wretched seven days and will need to improve significantly to avoid a second successive semi-final exit.
Valencia are also coming off back-to-back domestic defeats, though have lost only two of their last seven European games on the road.
The Gunners can take encouragement from the fact that they proved far too strong for a good Napoli team and have lost only one home match in two seasons in the Europa League.
Providing their confidence is not too low, they should be able to take a slender lead back to Spain for the second leg on May 9.
TV channel and live stream, and online coverage
The match will be televised live on BT Sport 2, with coverage starting at 7:15pm. BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match online via the video player and the BT Sport app.
Head to Head history and results (h2h)
These two sides have met five times competitively in the past, with Valencia boasting two wins - including the 1980 Uefa Cup Winners' Cup - to Arsenal's one, with two draws.
The Gunners were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals in 2001 before being bested by Valencia again in 2003 - John Carew scoring on both occasions.
