Arsenal should face no problems against Rennes in the Europa League
By Kian Long
Arsenal comes up against a Rennes side that is in average form. However, the Gunners will have learned from their mistakes against BATE Borisov in the first leg.
Arsenal is undergoing a run of good form after they slightly dipped in that regard mid-season. They played excellently against Tottenham at the weekend, despite their bitter rivals snatching a point. If VAR was active in the Premier League this season, it would have been a different story undeniably.
Anyway, enough moaning about the past. Unai Emery has a new venture on his hands and it’s his only chance of winning silverware this season. They play Rennes in the Europa League on Thursday night. It’s an away fixture, but the Gunners should be more than prepared.
Unai Emery knows how important this is
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In European competition, it’s been widely-shown that playing the first leg away from home gives you an advantage. This is because the first leg becomes a damage limitation before attacking in the second leg in front of home fans. This is the narrative which followed Arsenal vs BATE Borisov, with the North London side claiming their slot in the round of 16 by thumping the Belarusians 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
However, Unai Emery will want to clinch an important away goal. With his attack force in top form, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be aiming for this. Rennes has shipped nine goals in their last five games, meanwhile, Arsenal has scored 11 in their last five. This makes for quite the matchup.
Unai Emery is a Europa League specialist, winning the competition a total of three times with Sevilla. He will know all the best strategies in order to prepare for such a fixture. It helps that many of the Arsenal players are no strangers to French football, being coached by Arsene Wenger for many years. Of course, Arsenal’s talismen Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have experience of playing Rennes with their respective former clubs.
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Do you think Arsenal has the upper hand heading into this match with Rennes?