Arsenal – Atl. Madrid Prediction & Picks (26.04.2018)

Arsenal and Atlético Madrid meet at Emirates Stadium, in a match for this phase of the UEFA Europa League (Semi-finals). There is no record of direct confrontations between these two teams in the last 3 years. The last match was played on 01-08-2009 and ended with the score: Arsenal (2-1) Atlético Madrid. In this game the home factor may be decisive, since both teams present considerable differences in the results achieved at home and as a visitor.

Arsenal:

The home team reaches this stage of the UEFA Europa League (Semi-finals) after having played previous qualifiers with: CSKA Moscow, Milan and Östersunds FK. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 4 wins, 5 draws and 6 losses in away matches; against 10 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses at their stadium. In their last match, for the Premier League, they got a home win against West Ham United by (4-1). In the last 6 home matches for the UEFA Europa League, Arsenal have won 4, tied 1 and lost 1 of the last matches. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 8 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In their away matches there is a tendency for goals, since in 56 of the last 64 matches there were Over 1,5 goals and in 42 of the last 64 there were Over 2,5 goals. In 12 matches in the competition, suffered the first goal 5 times, but got the comeback in 2.

Arsenal came to this game motivated, after a 4-1 win at the reception at West Ham: Nacho Monreal, Ramsey and Lacazette scored the goals of the victory. Unlike the opponent of this match, Arsenal usually acts in a 4-3-3, favoring a style of game of constant transitions, in which the three most advanced players are Welbeck, Lacazette and Iwobi. The two great valences of the whole house are the way they get comebacks in situations of disadvantage and the ease of creating goal situations. Coach Arsene Wenger will not be able to count on Elneny, Mkhitaryan, Cazorla and Xhaka, for being injured. To point out that Aubameyang is not authorized to represent Arsenal in this match, for having represented Borussia at the start of the competition.

Atlético Madrid:

The visiting team reaches this stage of the UEFA Europa League (Semi-finals) after having played previous qualifiers with: Sporting Lisbon, Lokomotiv Moscow and FC Copenhagen. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 7 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses in away matches; against 12 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss at their stadium. In the last match they played, for the First Division, they drew with Real Betis at home by (0-0). In the last 10 away matches Atlético Madrid has won 4, tied 1 and lost 5. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 5 of the last 6 matches for this competition. In 15 games, he suffered the first goal 4 times and never got the comeback. In the last 20 home matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have conceded 8 of their 18 goals between minutes (76′-90 ‘).

Atlético de Madrid come to this match after a draw at home, to zero, in the reception at Betis. The greater valence of the visiting team is in the capacity that demonstrates in driving their offensive plays through fast transitions. The Frenchman Griezmann is the player responsible for making sense of the opponent’s defense, the highest quality being the ability to take advantage of spaces. The foreign technician will not be able to count on Diego Costa, Juanfran and Felipe Luís, for being injured.