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Valencia 2-4 Arsenal: Aubameyang grabs impressive hat-trick

Valencia 2-4 Arsenal: Aubameyang grabs impressive hat-trick

Unai Emery's Arsenal will hope to reach the final of the UEFA Europa for the first time in history, as they will take on Valencia in the second leg of the semi-final, with a 3-1 lead on the line.

Arsenal will continue to be without Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin, Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey, with the latter duo having already played their final games for the club.

With a 3-1 advantage from the first leg, Arsenal manager Unai Emery may not feel the need to play Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang and Alexandre Lacazette on Thursday night.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles missed Sunday's 1-1 draw with Brighton, a result which has all but confirmed Arsenal won't finish fourth, and will return to the starting XI here.

Laurent Koscielny will also be back in the fold on Thursday after Emery opted against risking the Frenchman's fitness at the weekend.

Francis Coquelin missed a return to Arsenal in the first leg through suspension but is free to play against his former club here.

The only problem is that Valencia will have to go for it at one point and Coquelin is not someone that will likely be on the pitch at that stage.

Valencia were unnecessarily defensive in their formation and personnel in the first leg, starting six defenders, four of which were centre-backs.

Expect a slightly different approach here. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Denis Cheryshev are the only players missing for Valencia this week.