Arsenal vs BATE Borisov 22/02/19

22 February 2019

After a shock 1-0 defeat in the first leg, Arsenal will welcome BATE Borisov to the Emirates Stadium for the return leg of their Europa League last-32 tie looking to make it up to the home fans.

The hosts are faced with another consistency crisis that has seen them win three of their last seven competitive games (W3, L4) with two of those successes coming at home. Unai Emery still can’t figure it out how to solve his team’s defensive problems. Not only the Gunners have failed to preserve a clean slate in all five of their previous games across all competitions, but they have also conceded at least one goal in five of their last five home outings. However, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his fellow teammates have scored 2+ match goals four of their previous five home clashes, mitigating damage caused by a weak defense. Another encouraging fact for Emery is that his men have picked up seven wins in their last nine meetings at the Emirates (W7, L2).

Meanwhile, the visitors prepare for their second competitive game in 2019 looking to build on a stunning triumph in the first leg. Before the winter break, Alyaksey Baha’s men have racked up a four-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W3, D1) with two of those wins arriving in the Europa League group stage. Surprisingly, but two of three victories the reigning Belarus champions have achieved during the group phase have come away from home, with BATE scoring 2+ match goals in each. But, just like Arsenal, BATE have been struggling for clean sheets, especially on the road. Baha’s players have conceded a goal on six of their last seven road trips, allowing over 1.5 goals per match four times in the process.