Quantcast
Home   >   News   >   Ozil & Leno included as Arsenal’s squad for Valencia clash is revealed

Ozil & Leno included as Arsenal’s squad for Valencia clash is revealed

By on May 8, 2019

mesut ozil arsenal 2018

A 21-man Arsenal squad has flown out to Spain today ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium.

We head into the game holding a 3-1 advantage following last week’s first leg victory at the Emirates with Alexandre Lacazette scoring twice to turn the match around after we’d conceded an early Valencia goal.

A 2-1 win would have been a very dangerous result for Arsenal so it was a huge relief when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored late on to secure a 3-1 victory and give us a much-needed cushion for Thursday’s second leg.

Arsenal’s away form has been horrendous all season so we’ll still need a big performance from the players and we’ll certainly have to play a lot better than we did against Brighton at the weekend if we’re to book our place in the final.

Unai Emery has taken a 21-man squad with him to Spain this afternoon and Mesut Ozil was on the plane. The German playmaker has been left out for the majority of our away games in recent months so it will be interesting to see if he’s selected to start tomorrow.

Bernd Leno has also made the trip but our No.1 is expected to be named on the bench with Petr Cech coming in between the sticks as the experienced Czech keeper has been Emery’s pick throughout the Europa League.

Aaron Ramsey is obviously out with a hamstring injury while Denis Suarez is also on the sidelines along with long-term absentees Danny Welbeck, Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding but otherwise Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns.

Youngsters Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah are among the travelling squad but it remains to be seen whether they’ll make the cut for the final 18-man matchday squad tomorrow evening.

Here is the confirmed travelling squad as announced on Arsenal.com this afternoon: