Europa League: Aubameyang Likely to Start Against Napoli

Europa League: Aubameyang Likely to Start Against Napoli

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is in line to start for Arsenal against Napoli in their Europa League quarter-final first leg this evening.

Illness had restricted the forward to substitute appearances in Arsenal’s past two Premier League matches.

Aubameyang, 29, is Arsenal’s leading scorer with 22 goals in all competitions this season.

“He’s getting better and can start,” said Arsenal manager Unai Emery.

“He had a small problem and he has taken antibiotics for his illness,” added Emery. “That’s the main reason he didn’t start those two matches.”

Emery also revealed Wednesday that he will wait until match day to assess the fitness of Laurent Koscielny who has been recovering from a foot injury, and Granit Xhaka, who is getting over a groin problem.

Both the Gunners captain Koscielny and midfielder Xhaka trained on Wednesday, but have not played for the club since the international break in March.

“We know we need to win,” said Emery. “Our first target is to win, but also we don’t want to concede chances for them to score.”

Forwards Lorenzo Insigne and Simone Verdi have been included in Napoli’s squad following recent injury absences.

Insigne played the final quarter of Napoli’s 1-1 draw with Genoa last Sunday, having missed the previous three games with a thigh injury.

The 27-year-old Italy international has scored 13 goals this season, while Verdi, 26, has scored four times but sat out the meeting with Genoa.

EUROPA Q’FINALS

Fixtures (8:00pm)

Arsenal v Napoli

Benfica v E’ Frankfurt

S’Prague v Chelsea

Villarreal v Valencia

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