MX23RW : Monday, December 23 16:55:08| >> :60:2548:2548:
[monks data]
Attendance: 59,453
Arsenal logo
Europa League | Round of 16
Mar 14, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
Rennes

3-0

Aubameyang (5', 72'), Maitland-Niles (15')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Unai Emery: Arsenal must be at their best to turn Rennes tie around

Unai Emery: Arsenal must be at their best to turn Rennes tie around
© Reuters
The Gunners are trailing 3-1 from last week's first leg.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery knows only the best will be good enough to see his side progress past Rennes in the Europa League.

The Gunners welcome their Ligue 1 opponents to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday trailing 3-1 from last Thursday's first leg.

They will be forced to mount a second-leg recovery for the second round in a row after they overturned a deficit against BATE Borisov in the round of 32, and Emery is calling on his side to show their best.

Arsenal made hard work of beating BATE Borisov in the previous round
Arsenal made hard work of beating BATE Borisov in the previous round (Nick Potts/PA)

"We are very demanding of ourselves," Emery said. "For us, it's one positive issue because we want to play big matches, tough matches against the best teams – and in the Europa League we are finding some results like the last round against BATE Borisov with difficulty.

"This round is the same with a bad result in the first match and for us it's a tough match tomorrow.

"But our demands to get our best performance is in each training and each match, very high.

"I want to play matches that are difficult, with difficult results or with difficult players.

Arsenal beat Manchester United in their last match
Arsenal beat Manchester United in their last match (John Walton/PA)

"Tomorrow is one match. We need to be together and create a big atmosphere in the Emirates with our supporters to help us to do the best performance possible in 90 minutes.

"We need to play with high emotion with our supporters but taking decisions on the pitch cleverly with our mind.

"These are both important issues that we need to control over 90 minutes and maybe more. We want to control but we want to build on the game because this result is giving us one long match tomorrow."

The Gunners will be boosted by the return of Alexandre Lacazette, whose three-game ban has been reduced to two by UEFA, making him available for the Emirates clash.

Midfielder Lucas Torreira, who also returns from a domestic suspension, hopes the presence of the Frenchman can help fire the Gunners through.

The Spaniard said: "We all know how important Alex Lacazette is to us as a group and obviously the more players we have available the better it is because we do have some quality players, particularly in midfield and up top.

"Hopefully we will be able to make that danger pay. Let's just hope that Lacazette can help us to achieve the result tomorrow."

Arsenal will assess Henrikh Mkhitaryan's back injury ahead of the game.

Mkhitaryan missed Sunday's Premier League win over his former club Manchester United but trained on Wednesday and will have a check before the game.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos is suspended, though, after his red card in last week's loss.

Despite their two-goal deficit, Emery's side are still favourites to progress, but the Spanish manager is aware his side will need to control their emotions, pointing to those red cards to Lacazette and Sokratis.

"I don't think about it (being favourites)," he said. "I only want to play the best possible match, doing all we can, with each player and the team.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off in the first leg
Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off in the first leg (John Walton/PA)

"In the first 90 minutes they beat us and tomorrow we will want to show here it can be different, but with a big respect to them and also knowing we need all the players with the focus and to control our emotions and control the different situations and scenarios that can come in the 90 minutes.

"This is our way and our match for tomorrow."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Jonathan Veal, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '6a0d0b52-94f3-432d-a268-ee7e033f9567');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Unai Emery: Arsenal must be at their best to turn Rennes tie around'});

ID:353279: cacheID:353279:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:11563:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil celebrates after scoring against Bournemouth in the Premier League on February 27, 2019
Read Next:
How Arsenal could line up against Rennes
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Lazio651016
2Athletic Bilbao651016
3Anderlecht642014
4Lyon641113
5Frankfurt641113
6Galatasaray633012
7Man Utd633012
8Rangers632111
9Spurs632111
10FCSB632111
11Real Sociedad631210
12Ajax631210
13Bodo/Glimt631210
14Roma62319
15Olympiacos62319
16Ferencvaros63039
17Plzen62319
18AZ62228
19Fenerbahce62228
20Porto62228
21Union SG62228
22Braga62137
23Elfsborg62137
24PAOK62137
25Midtjylland62137
26M. Tel Aviv62046
27Hoffenheim61326
28Besiktas62046
29Slavia Prague61144
30FC Twente60424
31Malmo61144
32Ludogorets60333
33Qarabag61053
34RFS60242
35Nice60242
36Dynamo Kiev60060


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!