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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Tom Doyle

Unai Emery gives Arsenal '50/50' chance of reaching Europa League semi-finals

Unai Emery has rated Arsenal's chances of knocking Napoli out of the Europa League to reach the semi-finals as "50/50" - despite holding a 2-0 lead over the Italian side.

Arsenal dominated the first leg at the Emirates Stadium last week as an Aaron Ramsey finish and a Kalidou Koulibaly own goal secured the win inside 25 minutes.

However, Emery's Arsenal have struggled on the road since the start of the calendar year and have won just three of their last nine away games in all competitions.

Napoli on the other hand have lost just once at Stadio San Paolo in Serie A all season - against reigning Italian champions Juventus - and will be confident of giving the Gunners a game on Thursday night.

"Fifty-fifty, it's not changed for me. We played the first leg at home and we won," Emery told a news conference on Wednesday. "That's a normal result.

"But when you play here against Napoli, they can beat you, it's a possibility because they are very strong at home.

"(They will test us) tactically and with this atmosphere here they are going to play with courage.

"They are ready to play with their head and intelligence."

Additional reporting by Reuters.

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