Arsenal face Sporting Lisbon on Thursday night in the Europa League looking for an 11th consecutive win in all competitions and Manager Unai Emery has put in place strategies to ensure victory. Emery has declared he wants his Arsenal team to improve on the link between defence and attack.
The Spaniard won the Europa League three years in a row with Sevilla, and Arsenal fans will be hoping he can replicate that feat with the Gunners. So far this season, Arsenal have been on fire and have won ten matches in a row in all competitions and they travel to Portugal on the back of a 3-1 win over Leicester.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s Europa League match, Emery tried to keep expectations low, however, and has insisted that there is still work to be done to his side.
“We want the balance to score a lot and not concede a lot of goals,” he said. “For me, it is very important to score goals and also for the supporters to be excited with what happens on the pitch. For me, with this balance, we want to score a lot. I want our strikers to score but also have the balance defensively.”
Emery hinted at a change in defence, and suggested he could play around with his squad in order to rest players and give everyone minutes.
“Now we are finding the best combination,” he said. “Some matches are good moments to try different options. Tomorrow is not the best because of our composition with the players. I think we will continue tactically with what we are doing.”
The Arsenal boss was also insistent that the Europa League was high on his priorities.
“I grew up a lot individually in this competition,” he explained. “I think this competition is very important, because it’s one title and also you go into the Champions League next year. For us, for Arsenal and the supporters I am telling them it is very important.”