After a 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, Arsenal will travel to Greece to host their second leg match against Benfica in the round of 32 of the Europa League. The aggregate score is settled with a balanced 1-1 as both sides scored a goal each during their first leg match.
Arsenal was only able to settle on a 1-1 draw despite dominating the whole game against Benfica, who performed poorly for their home game. Aubameyang got a great chance to score in the first half which he missed and then in the second half, Benfica was awarded a penalty kick to a foul which was made by Smith-Rowe in the 54th min. Pizzi converted the penalty and then just after 2 minutes Benfica lost their lead as Bukayo Saka responded by scoring a goal and equalizing the score to 1-1. There were many other goal-scoring chances for Arsenal during the whole game which had gone begging.
Arsenal will be going to this match with an away goal as their advantage and will look to dominate the game once again and score some goals this time but it will be tough for them this time as their 1-0 loss to Manchester City may have caused them a certain amount of physical and mental fatigue. Benfica too played a game before coming into this match which went for a goalless draw.
In a game were a goalless draw can do the trick for Arsenal, Arteta will demand his players to score goals and win comprehensively against a poor Benfica side and to move forward to the round of 16 in the league with winning momentum.
When and Where?
Venue: Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Greece.
Date: 25 February, 2021.
Time: 17:55 (GMT)
Team News
Arsenal
Kieran Tierney will most likely be benched for this game as he admitted that he wasn’t match fit and that he was exhausted by the end of an hour of play against Manchester City on Sunday and he will be replaced by Cedric Soares. Other than that, Mohamed Elneny should be replaced by Dani Ceballos in central midfield for the second leg, as he underperformed against City.
But the big question which will be on every Arsenal fans minds will be whether Thomas Partey will be fit for the second leg match. Ahead of their Sunday’s clash against Manchester City in the Premier League, Arsenal had said that he was being monitored ahead of Sunday’s clash, which hints that he could be in contention for Benfica. But, either way, it will be a very risky decision as he is a very important player for the team.
Benfica
Benfica will be missing their duo of Andre Almeida and Jardel as both of them are suffering injuries and will miss the second leg against Hosts Arsenal. Andre Almeida is suffering an ACL injury and their central defender Jardel will miss out on the second leg due to a thigh strain. Other than that, their right-back Gilberto, who was on the bench for the first leg match is now available for the second leg.
Predicted Line-up:
Brend Leno, Cedric Soares, Rob Holding, David Luiz, Hector Bellerin, Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Emile Smith-Rowe, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. (4-2-3-1 formation)
Scoreline Prediction:
Arsenal should win their second leg match with a scoreline of 2-1 and with an Aggregate Score of 3-2 against an out-of-form Benfica and will move forward to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.
