Arsenal v Vorskla: UEL specialist Emery to send a message

Arsenal v Vorskla
Thursday 20 September, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 2

On often-hilarious business challenge show “The Apprentice”, the irascible Lord Sugar will almost certainly pull the trigger on a Project Manager who fails at their speciality. For example, a restaurant owner invariably gets booted after failing a food task. Unai Emery was hired by French giants PSG on the strength of his extraordinary sequence of three consecutive Europa League successes with Sevilla, but when it came to the Champions League, he fell short. Firstly, he oversaw an embarrassing collapse at Barcelona (the “remontada”), and last season his charges were beaten home and away by eventual champions Real Madrid, despite the presence at some stage in the tie of mega-signings Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Emery’s dismissal in the French capital was perhaps inevitable, but I believe Arsenal will benefit in the long run. The Spaniard’s attention to detail and tactical acumen inspired an unprecedented spell of success in Seville, and there have already been encouraging signs with the Gunners. The north London side has already won twice on the road in the Premier League, at Cardiff and Newcastle, and improvement on a set of hitherto gutless away displays in 2018 under Arsene Wenger.

The new Arsenal boss says his players should embrace the Europa League, and he is expected to field a strong side. New keeper Bernd Leno could be given a chance to shine after being kept on the sidelines by the form of Petr Cech, while Sead Kolasinac and Laurent Koscielny are injured.

When you think of Ukrainian football, you perhaps think of the big two, Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk. Dnipro escaped that shadow briefly when they got to the Europa League final in 2015, and now unheralded Vorskla will look to make their mark, having reached the group stage of a major European competition for the first time since 2011.

Vorskla finished third in the Ukrainian top flight last term, and they are currently fifth in the table, having boosted their position with a run of three wins in four games. Despite that surge, Arsenal will have noted how vulnerable their opponents seem to be away from their base in Poltava, especially against technically superior opposition. Vorskla have lost 4-1 at Shakhtar and 1-0 at Dynamo recently, and overall they have lost four of their last five away matches. It’s also worth noting that they haven’t won any of their last five away games in European competition.

Attacking midfielder Yuri Kolomoets is struggling with a knock, while Denis Vasin and Vladimir Odaryuk are both out.

Vorskla have a dreadful away record this term, and they aren’t at full strength. I’d expect Emery to make an early statement with his team selection, and Arsenal should win this pretty comfortably.

You can back Arsenal on the Asian Handicap to win by three goals or more at [2.03].

If you aren’t keen on using the Asian Handicap you could go for Over 3.5 Goals at [2.12]. In 2018, Vorskla have leaked four goals at both Shakhtar and Dynamo, and something similar would do us just fine here.

The likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alex Lacazette are heavily odds-on to score, so it’s worth a look at Aaron Ramsey to score at evens. He scored four goals in six UEL starts last season, and if he starts this game he should get chances to score. Keep an eye on the team news before making your wager.