Thursday Night Football: Can Arsenal Win the Europa League?

It’s fair to say that the 2020/21 season hasn’t been the best for Arsenal. Having lifted the FA Cup in his first season in charge, Mikel Arteta will have been hoping that it would have been the springboard for a better campaign this season, but that hasn’t proven to be the case. They managed to reach the Quarter-Finals of the Carabao Cup but were trounced at the Emirates by an in-form Manchester City, while they meekly surrendered their grip on the FA Cup, exiting in the Fourth Round to an out-of-sorts Southampton side. And their league form could be best described as inconsistent; Arsenal currently sit in mid-table having at one point been described as being in a relegation battle.

The Gunners’ FA Cup triumph last season gave them a place in the Europa League, and it is here where they have achieved their highlights – and leading online bookmaker online-betting.jp is backing them to go all the way.

The draw for the group stage was fairly kind to Arteta’s men. They were pitched against Molde, Rapid Vienna and Dundalk, and even the most pessimistic Gooner will have been pretty bullish about their chances of navigating their way through. And they did, and comfortably so, winning all six group games and topping the group with a +15 goal difference.

This put them into the last 32, and the draw paired them with Portuguese giants Benfica, who finished runners-up in their group behind Rangers. The first leg saw the Gunners travel to Lisbon where they eked-out an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Bukayo Saka equalising after his side fell behind. Arsenal were just as unconvincing in the second leg at the Emirates, where they needed to show some steel and fight back from 2-1 down. They won 3-2 with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring the winner three minutes from time to put them into the last 16 where they will face runaway Greek league leaders Olympiakos. I’m sure that they won’t be taking anything for granted, but with all due respect to their opponents, I’m sure Arsenal will fancy their chances of progressing.

Given Arsenal’s inconsistencies this season, they will be no doubt pleased that they have a good shot at reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League, and once there, who knows what might happen? Although there are some very good teams left in the competition – AC Milan, Ajax, Roma, exciting underdogs Sparta Prague and English rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – if the draw can continue to work in their favour, they may still be able to end what has been a disappointing season on a high.