Arsenal at Stade Rennais: leg 1

Arsenal head to Rennes for the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie, and they’ll want to improve on their away form considering what happened in the previous round.

It’s only going to get tougher as the competition progresses, and the Gunners will need to avoid digging holes for themselves like they did against BATE Borisov. Although Rennes are a midtable team in Ligue 1, they put six past Real Betis in the round of 32 and won the away leg of that tie; Arsenal ought to take them seriously.

The two teams have in common Petr Čech, who played for Rennes before coming to England. He has played in goal for Arsenal’s other Europa League matches, and that should stay the same today. Alexandre Lacazette is suspended for both legs of this tie, but we should see a lot of Lucas Torreira—these matches are his only playing opportunity while he is suspended in the Premier League.

Rennes will play without Hamari Traore, their starting right back, as well as James Lea Siliki and Theoson-Jordan Siebatcheu, but since Ligue 1 rescheduled their league match to give them Europa preparation time, they are playing on seven days of rest.

WHAT: Arsenal at Stade Rennais F.C.

WHERE: Roazhon Park, Rennes, France

WHEN: Thursday, March 7th 9:55 AM PT | 12:55 PM ET | 6:55 PM CET

US TV: In Spanish on Galavision. Streaming on B/R Live ($$$).

Check out livesoccer.tv for all your international streaming needs. Please do not discuss links to illegal streams here.

LINEUPS: Look for those here about an hour before kickoff.