Arsenal team news: The expected line-up vs Napoli

Though Arsenal head to the Stadio San Paolo with a 2-0 lead over Napoli from the first leg at the Emirates, they are far from guaranteed progression to the Europa League semi-finals.

Unai Emery’s side may have ground out a narrow 1-0 away win against 10-man Watford on Monday evening, but they have still won only two league games on the road this calendar year. Though they deserve credit for seeing out the game at Vicarage Road, it was a reminder that they are having to fight hard – even in favourable circumstances – to get anything away from home at the moment.

Emery has hinted that Arsenal will go on the attack in Naples, saying in his pre-match press conference: “When you score when playing matches like [Thursday’s] match, you can create a good advantage. We know it’s going to be very difficult because they can score two or more goals with their attacking players. Our mentality is to play the match thinking to win.”

Emery will also need to make up his mind when it comes to his defence, which has been shuffled and reshuffled far too often this season.

Here’s how Arsenal could line up as they attempt to capitalise on their first-leg advantage.

Defence

Having gone with a back three of Sokratis, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal against Napoli last week – with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac at right and left wing-back respectively – Emery started a makeshift back four of Monreal, Koscielny, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Shkodran Mustafi at right-back against Watford.

It would be fair to say that this was the first of several defensive experiments which didn’t really work. Emery briefly switched to a back three in the second half after swapping in Matteo Guendouzi for Mavropanos, but was so alarmed by Arsenal’s defensive disorganisation in the aftermath that he reverted to a back four and brought on Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Though it is almost impossible to follow Emery’s train of thought with regards to his defence at times, it would stand to reason for him to go with the back three which succeeded in keeping out Napoli last time. Petr Cech should start in goal as Arsenal’s first choice in Europe.

Starters: Cech; Maitland Niles; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Kolasinac

Midfield

Though he was fantastic against Napoli last week, Lucas Torreira sustained a minor groin strain against Watford which may stop him from making a third start in three matches. He is in the travelling squad and may still feature at the Stadio San Paolo in some capacity, but with the Premier League run-in ahead it would make sense for Emery to preserve his fitness.

Read more: Unai Emery: Aaron Ramsey ‘awesome’ against Napoli

That could see Matteo Guendouzi return to the starting line-up, though Granit Xhaka seems the more likely option to partner Aaron Ramsey, the hero of the first leg, in the midfield. Brought on as a half-time substitute against Watford, Mesut Ozil should be relatively fresh and ready to slot in behind the strikers.

Starters: Ramsey, Xhaka, Ozil

Attack

Though neither of them managed to score, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette caused all sorts of problems for Napoli last Thursday.

Read more: Napoli vs Arsenal: Kick-off time, TV channel, team news and odds

Overlapping with the wing-backs, dragging defenders here and there, they worked well as a front two and – having started a front three of Alex Iwobi, Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Watford and witnessed a disjointed attacking display as a result – Emery should pair them together once more against the Neapolitans.

Starters: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette