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Men's Football Arsenal must play better than they did against Watford if they are to reach Europa League semi-final

IF Arsenal are going to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, they are going to have go play better than they did against Watford on Monday night.

Tomorrow’s second leg isn’t a forgone conclusion, despite the Gunners heading to Naples with a 2-0 lead.

Their away form has been abysmal all season and even with an extra man for 80 minutes against the Hornets, they looked vulnerable and there for the taking – they struggled to hold on a 1-0 win to record their first away clean sheet of the season.

Much of the talk after the first-leg at Ashburton Grove was that Arsenal needed a third, just to put the tie to bed.

As Unai Emery and his side prepare for the game, they will know that they wasted a tremendous opportunity to head into tomorrow’s game with little to do but see the game out.

Instead, Napoli will be confident they will be able to create multiple chances and score at least one to create some doubt among the London side’s players on the night.

Their task may be helped by the news that Lucas Torreira may not be 100 per cent for the game, he was taken off at half-time against Watford after feeling a pain in his groin. 

The midfielder impressed last week and scored the second goal of the match.

Emery admitted that the midfielder, and the rest of the side that played on Monday night, picked up no new knocks but the physicality of the game would have taken a lot out of Arsenal.

That they don’t need to win to progress will mean a great deal to the Gunners.

But Emery will want Arsenal to put on a confident performance and show the remaining teams they are a force to be reckoned with in this competition.

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