Europa League: Arsenal in Tough Spot After Home Draw

UEFA Europa League quarter-finals return leg will be played on Thursday evening at 8pm live on StarTimes.

Aubameyang’s Arsenal is in a tough spot after their disappointing draw against Slavia Prague at home last week. Manchester United will be much more confident thanks to Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes’ goals that gave the Reds a 2-0 victory.

Of the four home sides in last week’s first leg quarter-final matches of the Europa League, Arsenal achieved the best result.

The Gunners were the only club to avoid defeat in their own stadium, though the Premier League club were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Slavia Prague.

In the first leg, Ivorian winger Nicolas Pépé gave Arsenal a late lead – five minutes from the end.

But just when Mikel Arteta’s side seemed to be able to take a one-goal advantage into Thursday’s away leg, Czech international defender Tomáš Holeš found an equalizer five minutes into injury time.

Slavia though will be wary of Arsenal’s away form in the competition, as the London side has yet to lose an away game in the Europa League this season.

They have won four of the six matches they have played away from home and drawn the other two.

The two other quarter-finals see La Liga club Villarreal take on Dinamo Zagreb in Spain with a 1-0 lead from the away leg, while Roma defend a 2-1 lead at home against Ajax Amsterdam.

Since being re-launched as the Europa League in 2009, the competition has grown in stature and regularly grabs its share of footballing headlines. With clubs like Arsenal and United involved, the world will be watching this week’s return legs in the quarter-finals.

African football fans will have a chance to watch the games live and exclusively on the StarTimes channels as Africa’s leading digital-TV operator broadcasts all the action from the exciting Europa League.

And two months from now, StarTimes is going to broadcast all matches of the long-awaited UEFA Euro 2020 live and in HD.