“These players will want to shine to fight for a PL start” – Agbonlahor names 3 Arsenal players who will be keen to impress as he delivers score prediction for PSV game
Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes Arsenal will play a number of reserves in their Europa League clash with PSV Eindhoven today (October 27). However, he still backed them to win.
Mikel Arteta's side are already through to the knockout stages but need to avoid defeat in the Netherlands in order to secure the top spot in the group.
The Gunners are coming off the back of a disappointing draw at Southampton in the Premier League. This saw their lead at the top of the table reduced to two points.
Arsenal are THAT club right now 👏 https://t.co/HByOCZUcTy
Arsenal failed to win for only the second time this season. Arteta will be determined to regain momentum heading into their weekend encounter with Nottingham Forest.
Agbonlahor feels that fringe players will be given a run out against PSV, including a young, attacking trio.
Eddie Nketiah and Marquinhos are yet to start a Premier League game this season, while new signing Fabio Vieira has been mostly concined to the bench. However, all three have impressed in Europe so far and Agbonlahor believes Arsenal will once again be too strong.
The former Aston Villa and England striker told TalkSPORT:
“Arsenal looked very tired against Southampton but their second XI is very good. Nketiah, Marquinhos, Vieira..so I think they'll have too much for PSV and these players will want to shine to fight for a PL start, so I’m going to go Arsenal 2-0.”
All smiles ahead of Matchday 5 😁❤️
@Arsenal | #UEL https://t.co/PW8sEAGhMU
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta determined to win Europa League group to ensure easier fixtures
The Spanish boss has made it clear that he wants to see his side win the group in order to avoid more difficult teams in the next round. Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Ajax are among the teams dropping into the Europa League from the Champions League.
Topping the group would mean that the Gunners avoid a play-off.
In his pre-game press conference, Arteta made his intentions of winning in Eindhoven clear, as he told reporters (as per BBC Sport):
"Last week we made the first step which was to qualify for the next round. We need to win [on Thursday] because we want to finish first."
He added:
"This competition is getting harder and harder. It looks like the next round is going to be extremely competitive. That's why finishing first in the group and avoiding another two games is such an important thing for us."
The Gunners beat PSV 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium last week thanks to a Granit Xhaka strike, with Arteta making numerous changes to his starting lineup.
So that’s five of 12 teams originally signed up to the Super League (Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico, Manchester United, Arsenal) not in CL knockout rounds. AC Milan and Tottenham also firmly in the balance going into final round.