In what is easily our greatest European test to date, and what is easily our most important fixture of the season thus far, The Arsenal will host SSC Napoli on Thursday at the Emirates. A clean sheet is an absolute must if we wish to apply any pressure at all on Carlo Ancelotti's side for the return fixture, which will occur the following Thursday. Napoli hosted mid-table Genoa on Sunday and despite facing a 10-man side for more than 60 minutes, Napoli only managed a 1-1 draw. Despite Ancelotti's admission after the match that a similar performance vs the Arsenal will surely lead to his team's exit from the competition, former Arsenal great and new Rapid-Gooner best buddy Robert Pires recently claimed that Napoli would go on to win the Europa League -- if they prevail against the Gunners (I'm reaching here for motivation). If Emery can pull off another psychological miracle like the one he did between the first leg vs. Rennes and the 2-0 thumping of Man United a month ago, it would be just what the doctor ordered. Speaking of doctors, it's probably a bit to early for any real team news for either side. Torreira should most likely play a key role in this game, and hopefully he can convince Ozil to do the same! I'd start Laca and Auba together up front but who am I to say? Get excited boys, this one is a big one, and if you wanna be the best, you have to beat the best!! Lots of other clichés! COYG!!
Thanks Jake for starting this thread! I like the idea of Torreira playing, as long as his form is what it used to be (who would know, we haven't seen him in a while!). Based on his performance at yesterday's trip up north, it's hard to imagine Ozil starting away in a Southern Italian cauldron. I'm praying that Kos is back to his old self by Thursday, but I'm starting to worry that his injury isn't as minor or fleeting as originally hoped. And playing both Laca & Auba up front? Hell yeah!
Take note: the first leg is at the Emirates. UEFA rules dictate two teams in the same city cannot host games on the same day. Whatever Chelsea did last season in Europe was better than what we did, so they get to host their return leg and we gotta hit the road.
Aha, sorry I missed the subtlety of where the match is actually being played. Thus your reference to keeping them to zero (away) goals. So maybe Ozil could possibly start this one, or maybe come on in 2T if we need some sort of extra creativity. But, in general, I'd favor Ramsey, assuming his groin injury isn't too big an issue. We shall see!
Might I add how deeply depressed I am that this thread wasn't my responsibility. Here's hoping Jake is doing this the rest of the year!
Let's all leave this observation to die right here. Please, nobody bring up anything regarding the Arsenal's recent (or less than recent) futility relative to any UEFA sanctioned tournaments, be it the Europa semis or the Champions League round of 16 . . . No responses required. Thank you for your patience. Nothing to see here. Seriously, move right along.
If you want to have a modicum of optimism for Thursday's match, I recommend you don't listen to today's Arsecast Extra podcast. Granted they recorded it Sunday night only 2hrs after our defeat at Everton, but there was a high level of negativism, even for these 2 gents. The only positive I came out of their part one with, was that our psychology and play at HOME tends to be comparatively good. However this is of course a home AND away tie, so...
Looks like this game is going to be aired on Univision Deportes TV. I guess not on Galavision which says "teams to be confirmed". I think they're owned by the same parent, so hopefully the decent Gala streaming that's been available with our recent EL matches will be the same for Univision this Thursday.
Team News for Wednesday: Koscielny (bruised left foot) and Xhaka (left groin) are both being assessed ahead of the match on Thursday. fingers crossed!
Looks like this isn't on any of the spanish channels. I figured it would be since this is basically a CL match, but I guess the masses want Chelsea vs Slavia Praha.
It's definitely on one of the Spanish channels on Directv. Univision maybe? Can't remember exactly which, but it does show on the guide. COYG!
Huh, my guide doesn't say Arsenal. Unvision says "Sin Tu Mirada" at the time Arsenal play. Unimas and Galavision have other europa games on.
Univision in this context almost always means Univision Deportes. Drives me nuts when people do that, because I can't get Univision Deportes with my cable company. Anyway, related: has anyone here used the B/R Live online purchase/stream option for previous matches? I'm planning on that for today but would like to be warned against it if the service is awful.
I'm crossing fingers that a stream will work from Univision/deportes, just like it's been doing with Univision/galavision. (as long as you have a TV login that allows access). And hopefully the lag won't be as bad as the ~40secs that NBCSports.com has been putting out lately! Edit: Is anyone able to confirm whether Univision will be streaming this? (their webpage seems ambiguous, but I admit I no habla espanol)
The bar I've watched a few of these at uses the BR Live app via Apple TV. It is reliable for the most part. Once or twice there was an issue with freezing but it was fixable. I can't speak to whether the issue was BR, AppleTV, the ISP, or what.
Update: www.univisionnow.com seems to stream whatever's playing on Univision Deportes TV channel. That's the good news. The bad news is that the streaming lag seems to be ~40secs behind what's coming via cable TV.
Team Cech Sokratis Koscielny (c) Monreal Maitland-Niles Torreira Ramsey Kolasinac Ozil Lacazette Aubameyang Substitutes Leno Mustafi Elneny Guendouzi Suarez Iwobi Mkhitaryan
Can't see the game live but am pleased with the lineup. So long as the back 3 and Kola can do the job defensively this should be a strong enough side to do the job. C'MON YOU GUNNERS!