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Unai Emery gets his message over to the Arsenal players in light training at the Stadio San Paolo.
Unai Emery gets his message over to the Arsenal players in light training at the Stadio San Paolo. Photograph: James Marsh/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock
Unai Emery gets his message over to the Arsenal players in light training at the Stadio San Paolo. Photograph: James Marsh/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Unai Emery urges Arsenal to seize the moment at daunting Napoli

This article is more than 4 years old

Arsenal manager keen to silence Stadio San Paolo crowd
Napoli have lost once at home since the start of the season

Unai Emery said Arsenal are in Naples with victory in the Europa League on their minds as they face the task of how best to prepare for what locals anticipate will be “an earthquake” to greet their visitors at the Stadio San Paolo.

“Our first target is to win,” Emery said. “When you score in matches like this, we can take a good advantage with this goal. We know 90 minutes here can be long. We want to play thinking to win, thinking to score, thinking to push, thinking to stop them, thinking tactically to be together and thinking when we have the space to attack. We must play with courage.”

With Napoli eager to overturn the 2-0 advantage Arsenal built in the first leg of the quarter-final, Emery faces a huge decision on whether to stick or twist with his team selection and strategy. It is particularly complicated because Arsenal generally leave control and natural composure at home.

Even if Emery feels it best to try to take some of the sting out of the occasion, it is obvious the most effective way of doing this would be to score an away goal. Just one would extend Napoli’s task to the point they need to score four.

Can he afford to load his team with attackers – the template for some of Arsenal’s most effective football this season, with the front pair of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette supported by Mesut Özil and Aaron Ramsey – or will he favour those with a more dependable capacity to track back?

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Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images Europe
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Napoli knew how close they were to a goal at the Emirates and Carlo Ancelotti evidently felt he saw weaknesses he wishes to exploit when his team aimed long passes over the top and pressed with determination.

Napoli have a formidable home record this season, losing only once, narrowly, to Juventus, in all competitions. They beat Liverpool and drew with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, before being parachuted into the Europa League.

Arsenal’s no-nonsense centre-half, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, declared himself good and ready for the shuddering atmosphere anticipated.

Emery regards the odds on progress as 50-50. A semi-final, in all probability against one of Emery’s former clubs Valencia (who take a 3-1 advantage into their home leg against Villarreal), awaits the winner of this tie next month.

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