The Gunners are currently reeling after losing four of their last five Premier League matches - a run that includes three straight losses at the hands of Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester in which they conceded no fewer than nine goals.

Such a dreadful sequence has come as a real blow to Arsenal's chances of securing a top-four finish - they remain fifth and two points adrift of Chelsea with only two matches left to play - and their best chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League may now be to win Europe's secondary club competition for the first time.


They face a Valencia side who are also caught up in their own crowded battle for Champions League qualification in LaLiga. Like its Premier League equivalent, no-one seems to be able to seize the initiative in that race, with Los Che's narrow home defeat by Eibar followed by losses for both Sevilla and Getafe.

Valencia, currently sixth in LaLiga, denied Arsenal a reunion with Santi Cazorla by thrashing domestic rivals Villarreal 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. They also ousted Krasnodar and Celtic after being eliminated from the Champions League.

Arsenal - who could yet end up facing Chelsea in the final - eased past Napoli after also beating Rennes and BATE Borisov following a comfortable ride in Group E.
It transpired on Wednesday that Juventus-bound midfielder Aaron Ramsey had played his last game for Arsenal as the result of a hamstring tear suffered against Napoli, while Barcelona loanee Denis Suarez will also not feature again this season due to persistent groin trouble.

However, Mesut Ozil is expected to return after missing the 3-0 defeat to Leicester with a bruised foot, while Nacho Monreal could be involved following a calf issue.

Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin (both knee) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) are long-term absentees.
Emery - who managed Thursday's opponents for four years between 2008-12 - may have accidentally given away his team selection and tactics after his notes were photographed at an open training session, with the likes of Carl Jenkinson and Konstantinos Mavropanos seemingly getting the nod in a 3-4-3 formation.

Arsenal are likely to come up against a familiar face in Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Paulista, but former Gunners midfielder Francis Coquelin is suspended.
Denis Cheryshev and Geoffrey Kondogbia remain out for Valencia, who welcome back right-back Cristiano Piccini following injury.

Arsenal XI (3-4-1-2): Cech, Mustafi, Koscielny​, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang

Valencia XI (4-4-2): Neto, Piccini, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya, Soler, Parejo, Wass, Guedes, Gameiro, Rodrigo

Arsenal have endured a truly wretched seven days and will need to improve significantly to avoid a second successive semi-final exit.
Valencia are also coming off back-to-back domestic defeats, though have lost only two of their last seven European games on the road.

The Gunners can take encouragement from the fact that they proved far too strong for a good Napoli team and have lost only one home match in two seasons in the Europa League.
Providing their confidence is not too low, they should be able to take a slender lead back to Spain for the second leg on May 9.