Arsenal vs Rennes: Squad, team news & preview

The Gunners know that they have work to do to seal a quarter-final berth when they welcome their Ligue 1 opponents to the Emirates Stadium

Having suffered a horrendous night on the continent in the reverse fixture last week, Arsenal must turn their attention to overcoming a two-goal deficit when they host Rennes on Thursday.

Alex Iwobi had given Unai Emery’s side a dream start at Roazhon Park and only minutes before half-time they looked to be cruising towards a key win in their quest for European success.

But a sending-off for Sokratis Papastathopoulos trigged a comeback from the Ligue 1 hosts who netted a trio of goals without reply to win 3-1.

The Gunners at least secured an emphatic return to winning ways at the weekend against Manchester United to vault themselves back into the top for of the Premier League, however and they will look to use that momentum to their advantage at the Emirates Stadium.

Squads & Team News

Unai Emery will be unable to call upon the banned pair of Sokratis and Alexandre Lacazette for his do-or-die European survival mission.

Laurent Koscielny will likely miss out with a leg injury he picked up against Manchester United, but Lucas Torreira is expected to return following his domestic suspension.

Potential Arsenal starting XI: Cech; Mustafi, Lichtsteiner, Koscielny, Monreal; Guendouzi, Xhaka; Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Iwobi; Ozil.

Julien Stephan will likely bring Hamari Traore straight back into the side following his suspension last week.

Otherwise, the Rennes coach may opt to keep faith with the same line-up again in the hope of replicating another fine result.

Potential Rennes starting XI: Koubek; Traore, Da Silva, Mexer, Bensebani; Bourigeaud, Grenier, Andre, Sarr; Ben Arfa, Hunou

Betting & Match Odds

Arsenal are heavy 3/10 favourites to win this match with bet365. Rennes can be backed at 10/1, while the draw is priced at 5/1.

Match Preview

One week on from their Europa League first leg loss, Arsenal will look to rectify their unexpected defeat when they welcome Rennes to the Emirates Stadium with a two-goal disadvantage on Thursday.

Before this round, the Gunners were among the favourites left in the tournament to lift the trophy come May, but a surprise 3-1 win for the Ligue 1 outfit leaves the Premier League side with some recalibrations to do.

They were not helped by defender Sokratis earning himself a red card when 1-0 up in the first half, with the dismissal serving as a catalyst for Julien Stephan’s side to haul themselves off the canvas to deliver a major punch.

Arsenal will now need to dig deep in north London to ensure their place in the quarter-finals but will take heart from a return to winning ways at the weekend when they prevailed as 2-0 victors over Manchester United.

Unai Emery’s side ensured that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s unbeaten domestic spell came to an end to give themselves a boost ahead of their continental crunch clash.

The Spaniard hailed the impact of the home support shown during their victory over the Red Devils too and stated his belief that a similar level of encouragement from the stands can help Arsenal push on to success on Thursday.

"I'm very proud of our supporters, they pushed us a lot and this is a big result and they created a big atmosphere for our players,” Emery stated.

"For us it is very important that every supporter helps like they did today. Being competitive like today for 90 minutes can give us a stronger mentality. Our focus is the Europa League.

"That is a very important match after what happened away. I hope a lot of supporters come here and make the stadium full to create this atmosphere.”

Aaron Ramsey, who will depart for Juventus at the end of the season, also maintained that the side was something of a work in progress under their current manager, in the wake of the Arsene Wenger era.

“We have had a new manager come in with new ideas and it has been a season of trying to adapt to certain things that he wants from us,” the Wales international stated.

“Sometimes it has come off and sometimes it hasn't - it is a working process.”