Manchester United may have one foot in the Europa League final after thrashing Roma but the clash between Arsenal and Villarreal remains evenly poised.

The Gunners looked to be heading out of the tournament when they conceded twice inside the first half an hour and matters went from bad to worse when Dani Ceballos was sent off in the 57th minute.

However, Nicolas Pepe scored from the penalty spot to halve the deficit and give Arsenal a crucial away goal ahead of the return at the Emirates.

Match information

When is it? Thursday, May 6th

What time is kick-off? 20:00

Where is it being held? Emirates Stadium

Which channel is it on? BT Sport

Arsenal vs Villarreal Predictions

Here are our best Arsenal vs Villarreal betting tips and we have dozens of other markets available for Thursday’s game.

The lowdown

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery has a love affair with the Europa League, a tournament he won three times with Sevilla and he is now 90 minutes away from reaching the final again.

Despite holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg, the Yellow Submarine are 31/10 to win in north London, although they are favourites to qualify at 8/13. 

Arsenal also have plenty of experience in this competition as this is their third Europa League semi-final in four years but only a win will do if they are to repeat their appearance in the 2018-19 final when they were blown away by Chelsea. 

The Gunners will be without suspended midfielder Ceballos, sent off for standing on Dani Parejo, and Mikel Arteta also fielded Granit Xhaka at left-back in place of the injured Kieran Tierney, but Villarreal also have problems.

Former Tottenham midfielder Etienne Capoue was shown a red card 10 minutes from time and he is also banned.

Villarreal were superior in the first half but despite holding a man advantage for much of the second half it was the Gunners who fought back valiantly after the break.

It should be another tight contest so for the first of our Arsenal vs Villarreal betting tips, we’ll go for both teams to score and a goal in each half at 11/10, just like the first leg

First goalscorer tips

Arsenal skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave manager Mikel Arteta food for thought after scoring on his return to the team in the 2-0 win at Newcastle.

Aubameyang managed just five minutes as a substitute in the first leg after recovering from malaria but he got 77 minutes under his belt and found the back of the net at St James’ Park to signal his readiness to play a part in the return match.

With Arsenal needing to overturn a deficit, a fit and firing Aubameyang will be a boost to Arteta and 31/10 he breaks the deadlock gets our vote.

Anytime goalscorer tips

Spain international Gerard Moreno may have been kept off the scoresheet for the last four matches but he is still a danger to Arsenal.

Having struck 28 times for club and country this season, Moreno also has six goals in 11 appearances in this competition.

Gaps could well appear should Arsenal need to chase the game at any stage and Moreno at 27/20 can capitalise on any opportunity which comes his way.

Where the game will be won or lost

Arteta defended his tactical approach in his post-match interview having started the game without a recognised striker.

Aubameyang, finally recovered from a bout of malaria he picked up on international duty with Gabon, was left on the bench although he was introduced late on and spurned a great chance to equalise.

💬 "The fact that we conceded really early in the game really affected us. We lost our organisation, we were really stretched and there were big distances between the lines that we could not join together with the ball."

🏆 #UEL

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 29, 2021

Arteta said: “It is the way we prepared the game, it is the decision that I made, thinking that it was the best way to play.

“But the game was changed after four minutes (with the first goal) so it is difficult to assess whether it would work or not.

“Conceding the set-piece (for Raul Albiol’s goal) as well changed it and after we had to approach it in a different way.

“(Aubameyang) was very unlucky because I think he slipped just before he took the shot and at the end it didn’t go through. But that was a big, big chance obviously.”

Arsenal did not look convincing overall, though, just as they haven’t in the Premier League, so our next tip is for Villarreal to win, draw no bet at 19/10.

Prior to their 2-1 defeat at Alaves, the Yellow Submarine had won five away games in a row and their record in this season’s Europa League has been incredible, winning 12 of their 13 games, with their only draw coming after they had already qualified from the group stage.

The last of our Arsenal vs Villarreal betting tips is for the visitors to win 2-1 at 13/1.