Emery tipped as next to go
– Unai Emery, above, has the chance to relieve some of the pressure surrounding his position at Arsenal today by securing qualification for the knockout rounds of the Europa League with a match to spare.
Speculation over his job has ramped up after the Gunners were booed off at the end of their 2-2 draw with lowly Southampton at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday, gained only thanks to a 96th-minute leveller from Alexandre Lacazette.
However, he can remove some of the gloom hovering over north London by booking their place in the last-32 with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Group F leaders Arsenal are four points ahead of both thirdplaced Eintracht and Standard Liege with two matches remaining and will also qualify if Standard don’t win at bottom side Vitoria Guimaraes.
Emery was backed by the Arsenal hierarchy at the start of the international break but the pressure has continued to grow following a run of just two wins in their last 11 Premier League games, with bookmakers in the UK placing him among the favourites to be the next manager ousted.
Arsenal face an Eintracht side that have lost their last three in all competitions and come into this clash in London having lost at home to Wolfsburg, despite their opponents having to play the second half with 10 men.
However captain David Abraham is available for a match that could be crucial to the hopes of last season’s semifinalists after he was banned until 2020 in the Bundesliga for barging over Freiburg coach Christian Streich earlier this month.
Seen as potential candidates to challenge for the trophy at the start of the season, Serie A rivals Roma and Lazio are fighting for survival, with Roma out if they lose at Group J leaders Istanbul Basaksehir and Borussia Moenchengladbach win at Austrian outfit Wolfsberg.
Lazio, who are third in Group E, must beat CFR Cluj at the Stadio Olimpico to have any hope of staying in, while Celtic have already qualified, thanks to two wins over Lazio. They will be joined by local rivals Rangers if they win at Group G’s bottom side Feyenoord and Porto don’t beat leaders Young Boys.
Wolves are also on the brink of the knockouts in their first European adventure for nearly four decades. They need a draw at Group K leaders Braga to guarantee passage to the last-32. –
Paris