Arsenal v Benfica

• Thursday, 17:55 GMT on BT Sport 1
• Match odds:

Mikel Arteta suffered at the hands of his mentor on Sunday afternoon, with Manchester City more comfortable at the Emirates than the 1-0 scoreline suggested (xG: ARS 0.40 – 2.07 MCI).

Arsenal had previously won in the Premier League, though, delivering an emphatic performance against Leeds, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netting a hat-trick on that occasion.

Momentum was therefore on Arsenal’s side when travelling to Italy to take on Benfica in the first leg of the Europa League Last 32.

However, the Gunners were held by the Eagles at the Stadio Olimpico, although Arsenal would have felt aggrieved at the draw, impressively limiting Benfica to just 0.32 non-penalty xG.

That was a more than respectable defensive display, and they’ve performed well at the back so far on their Europa League campaign, conceding an average of 0.84 expected goals against (xGA) in the competition.

They’ll fancy their chances of recording a clean sheet if Benfica arrive in a similar vein of form - but the question still remains, where will Arsenal’s goals come from?

Aubameyang has casted an increasingly frustrated figure this season, failing to build on his excellent 2019/20 campaign where he scored 22 goals from 16.07 xG.