Arsenal vs. Napoli: Europa League quarterfinals

Arsenal host Napoli at the Emirates today for the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals.

Napoli are currently second in Serie A, which puts them in the Champions League places, and a whopping 20 points behind Juventus, a deficit they’re not going to make up—which means that they’ll be throwing everything they have at the Europa League. Arsenal’s priorities are far less clear—the Europa League is their last shot at silverware this season, but they’re also in a scrap in the Premier League for Champions League places.

But no matter where the Europa League ranks for Arsenal, they’ll want to get off to a fast start today. Their away form has been less than stellar, and in the last two Europa League rounds they’ve had to overturn first-leg deficits with wins at the Emirates. This time, the home leg comes first, and the Gunners have the opportunity to make the away leg a little easier on themselves.

Napoli have recently gotten both Lorenzo Insigne and Faouzi Ghoulam back from injury, and Kalidou Koulibaly is eligible to start after serving a European suspension. David Ospina is also fit to play—good news after his frightening head injury last month—and he’s allowed to play against Arsenal per Europa League rules.

For Arsenal, Laurent Koscielny and Granit Xhaka have returned to training but are questionable for today, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is ready to start after recovering from an illness.

WHAT: Arsenal vs. Napoli

WHERE: The Emirates

WHEN: Thursday, April 11th 12:00 PM PDT | 3:00 PM EDT | 8:00 PM GMT

US TV: Univision Deportes (SP). Streaming on B / R Live ($$$).

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

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Arsenal:

Napoli: