As per usual, there were clues to upcoming Premier League line-ups in the latest Europa League action.
Arsenal and Chelsea both recorded positive results in the first legs of their quarter-finals, increasing their chances of remaining in the competition.
The longer the two clubs stay in the Europa League, the more they will be forced to rotate players between their continental and domestic commitments.
That said, it does make it slightly easier to predict their starting line-ups for Double Gameweek 34 on this occasion.
Arsenal 2-0 Napoli
Goals: Aaron Ramsey (£7.1m)
Own Goals: Kalidou Koulibaly
Assists: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (£4.4m), Lucas Torreira (£4.7m)
Alexandre Lacazette (£9.4m) looks the most likely Arsenal striker to start against Watford on Monday night after Thursday night’s Europa League action. After featuring from the beginning of the Gunners’ last four Premier League matches, he was substituted after 67 minutes against Napoli, with Unai Emery’s men 2-0 the good.
Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.9m) played the entire 90 minutes and looks set to be named on the bench once again. The Gabonese forward has been used as a substitute in three of the last four Premier League matches. Obviously, Arsenal don’t play in Double Gameweek 34 until Monday night, when they travel to Watford, so he could still be used but Emery is likely to want to preserve him for the second leg. That takes place next Thursday, just three days after Arsenal’s involvement in Monday night football.
What shape Arsenal opt to use at Vicarage Road remains to be seen after Emery tinkered with his 3-4-2-1 formation at Everton in Blank Gameweek 33. That had an impact on Sead Kolasinac (£5.0m) as he was taken off to facilitate a switch to a back-four, but he managed to play the whole game against Napoli. Emery went for a similar system, keeping a three-man defence and four-man midfield with wing-backs on the flanks.
Where he tweaked things from the defeat to Everton was playing two strikers and one central attacking midfield, rather than a solitary forward supported by two number 10s. That saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£6.8m) benched for Aubameyang to come in, although he did feature as a second-half substitute for Mesut Özil (£7.9m) who had kept his place.
Aaron Ramsey (£7.1m) came into the side and was one of the standout performers, scoring the opening goal. However, his inclusion is just further proof that Arsenal’s attack is a rotating minefield for Fantasy managers. The Welshman is consistently one of the Gunners’ best performers when he is on the pitch but has started just five of the last 10 in the Premier League.
“(Ramsey was) Awesome. Awesome. His performance in this moment for us, he wants to do something important with us, to help us. He feels a lot for Arsenal. When he is with our supporters he gives us more than all he can to do the best performance, not individually, but in the collective.” – Unai Emery
The victory for Arsenal saw them make it eight wins in a row at home in all competitions. It is their longest run in that respect since October 2017 and proves just what they can offer Fantasy managers when playing at the Emirates Stadium. However, between now and the end of the season the Gunners have just two more fixtures there, the Double Gameweek 34 meeting with Crystal Palace and Brighton’s visit to north London in Gameweek 37.
By contrast, four of Arsenal’s remaining fixtures are away from home, against Watford, Wolves, Leicester and Burnley. The Gunners have lost seven of their last 11 on the road in all competitions, winning just two. Even Emery admitted after beating Napoli that a trip to Vicarage Road would prove difficult on account of Arsenal being away from the Emirates.
“Watford, Monday, will be a very difficult match away to a good team who will feel stronger at home with their supporters. The same against Napoli next week. We need to be competitive and strong to try to do the same situations we are doing at home. Sometimes away we lose the spirit we have at home. This is our challenge to find success, we need to be consistent like we are at home.” – Unai Emery
Arsenal XI (3-4-1-2): Cech; Monreal, Koscielny, Sokratis; Kolasinac, Ramsey, Torreira (Elneny 77′), Maitland-Niles; Özil (Mkhitaryan 67′); Aubameyang, Lacazette (Iwobi 67′).
Slavia Prague 0-1 Chelsea
Goals: Marcos Alonso (£6.3m)
Assists: Willian (£7.1m)
Eden Hazard (£11.1m) continues to be used only sparingly for Chelsea in the Europa League as they toiled to a 1-0 win in Prague. The Belgian did not start the match but was introduced for Pedro (£6.3m) on the hour mark. Maurizio Sarri admitted that he did not actually want to use Hazard and wouldn’t have done if his side were winning at half-time.
“No, at the beginning of the match I wanted him on the bench because I thought that, probably, the match was really very difficult. Probably I’d need to use him. Of course, if at the end of the first half we were 1-0, I wouldn’t have used him.” – Maurizio Sarri
It will be interesting to see when the Chelsea manager will start to put more first-team players into his continental line-ups as the seven changes he made from Blank Gameweek 33 caused Chelsea to look sloppy in possession from the get-go.
“We knew very well that, to play here, is really very difficult. The opponents are really very physical, very aggressive. And so we knew very well that we had to face difficulties during the match.” – Maurizio Sarri
Once again, Willian (£7.1m) showed promise in the Europa League, although he continues to disappoint in the Premier League. He hit the cross-bar against Prague and provided the assist for Marcos Alonso‘s (£6.3m) late winner.
The left-back has been showing some attacking promise once again in recent weeks but has not started in the Premier League since the first match of Double Gameweek 32. With Emerson Palmieri (£5.2m) not involved against Prague, it is possible that Alonso could be on the bench against Liverpool.
Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.2m) was not in the match squad for Chelsea on Thursday night, causing some to believe that he will get another Premier League start at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. However, Sarri insisted that he does not yet know if he will play, explaining that the youngster needed rest.
“Oh, I don’t know. But in my opinion, he needed to rest. And so, in this match, he was out. Emerson was also out. But of course he is in my mind for the next match, but I have to see the last two training (sessions).” – Maurizio Sarri
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa; Alonso, Christensen, Rüdiger, Azpilicueta; Barkley (Loftus-Cheek 75′), Jorginho, Kovacic (Kanté 59′); Willian, Giroud, Pedro (Hazard 59′).
