Arsenal face a crunch test in the Europa League this evening, as the Gunners host CSKA Moscow in the first-leg of the quarter-finals.
After comfortably seeing off Italian giants AC Milan in the last round, Arsenal are firm favourites to seal a spot in the final four of the competition and one former Gunners striker believes they’ll enjoy another comfortable success tonight.
Writing his European predictions for Sky Sports, former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas said:
“Arsenal were bog standard at the weekend but somehow managed to come out of it with some momentum thanks to the three late goals against Stoke. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is obviously a miss as he is cup-tied but it was good to see his team spirit letting Alexandre Lacazette take the second penalty.”
“I’d like to see Arsenal finish the league season the way they rounded that game off, with Aubameyang coming in off the left and Lacazette central – surely that is the reason Arsene Wenger signed both?”
“However, that obviously can’t happen on Thursday night, so Danny Welbeck will keep his place on the left and hopefully get his name back on the scoresheet.”
“It is too early for Arsenal to be getting ahead of themselves and thinking about winning this trophy yet – the focus must be on getting a good win heading to Moscow and avoiding another difficult situation.”
Nicholas predicted a 3-0 win for the Gunners, which would see Arsene Wenger’s side firmly put one foot in the semi-finals.
