Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette has stressed the importance of securing a positive result in the home leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Napoli on Thursday.
The Gabon striker advised his teammates to take advantage of Napoli’s current poor away form. The Gunners have won just five Premier League games on their travels all season, losing 1-0 at Everton last weekend to damage their chances of securing a top-four finish.
Emery’s side has been defeated in their past two trips abroad in Europa League knockout games, having to turn around ties against BATE Borisov and Rennes to set up the last-eight meeting with Carlo Ancelotti’s Italian side.
This time Arsenal is at home first and their form at the Emirates could not be in starker contrast to their away-day blues, with just one league defeat on their own turf all season.
“We know we are better at home than we are away, so tomorrow is really important for us,” said Frenchman Lacazette. “We also know we can get a good result away, so both games are going to be important for us.
“Our first target is to win, but also we don’t want to concede chances for them to score. That’s important. We know they have good players and also have had good performances in the season.
“In the last matches there may have been some doubts, but tomorrow they will play with the best performance. I am sure.
“We need to be very competitive in the 90 minutes. We want to win and not concede goals, but we know that can come. We will play two matches, 90 minutes here and 90 minutes away, and we are prepared for if it’s decided on extra time or penalties.”
P
Emery, who also confirmed Granit Xhaka and captain Laurent Koscielny will undergo fitness tests ahead of the game to see if they can take part, revealed why Aubameyang has been restricted to cameos in recent weeks.
“The first reason (Aubameyang has not started) is because he had a small problem and he has taken antibiotics for his illness,” explained Emery.