Prediction: Arsenal vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Verdict: Home win

Best odds: 1

Bookmaker: William Hill

Arsenal will be welcoming Eintracht Frankfurt to the Emirates Stadium in the fifth round of this season’s Europa League Group F, for a game that could decide a lot of things regarding the passage to the knockout stages.

Arsenal

The Gunners are in the middle of a big crisis at the moment, though it reflects their results on the domestic scene far more than in Europe. They are currently eighth in the Premier League with 18 points to their name, eight less than Chelsea who currently occupy the four place. A top four finish is an absolute priority for this team, and already it is being reported by reasonably credible sources, that manager Unai Emery’s reign is likely to come to its end soon. They’ve failed to win any of their last five league games. The last one, where they grabbed an injury-time goal to avoid defeat at home against the relegation-bound Southampton, seems to have increased the pressure on the Spanish coach immensely.

But in the Europa League they haven’t done nearly as badly so far. They welcome the German side sitting at the top of the group with 10 points from the previous four rounds, four more than the visitors and Standard Liege apiece. A draw in this game should be enough to see them through to the next round with a game to spare, but given everything that has been going on at the club, they will do well to go all out and win this contest with a convincing performance.

Team News

Midfielder Granit Xhaka, who has been stripped of captaincy following the altercation with the club supporters when he was substituted in the game against Crystal Palace in October, is back with the squad and Emery says he may feature in this game.

Fullbacks Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac will be assessed ahead of the game due to respective hamstring issues. However, midfielder Dani Ceballos has been ruled out with a hamstring problem of his own which he suffered earlier this month, and he isn’t expected back for a few more weeks.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht aren’t doing any better in the Bundesliga than Arsenal are in the Premier League, though the level of expectation is admittedly different for this team. They sit in 10th place with 17 points on the board after 12 games. Their recent line of results makes a strange reading – defeats at the hands of Wolfsburg and Freiburg, as well as Standard Liege in the previous Europa League round, but before that, they hammered a certain Bayern Munich by 5-1.

As for the group, Eintracht are currently third, but level on points (six) with Standard in second. The Belgian team play bottom-side Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal, which is a prospect somewhat lighter than Eintracht’s in North London, but the final round will see them change these opponents between them.

Team News

Frankfurt are without two long-term absentees in defender Marco Russ and goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. Apart from the pair of them, coach Adi Hutter has the full squad at his disposal.

Conclusion

Regardless of the situation regarding the passage to the knockout stages, this is a must-win game for Arsenal and they are likely to approach it as such. They will go all out, and the visitors from Germany are unlikely to withstand their onset. With Alexandre Lacazette twice on target last weekend, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be keen to make his mark this time.

Verdict: Home win

Best odds: 1

Bookmaker: William Hill