BT Sport pundit Michael Owen is expecting Arsenal to lose the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie against Villarreal tomorrow night.

Unai Emery’s side have won every home match they have played in Europe this season, and combined with the Gunners’ recent poor form, Owen feels the La Liga side will come out on top:

“For Arsenal, they have won just two of their last eight competitive outings, however, the Gunners’ are unbeaten in seven on the road. I think this could be one of the more open semi-finals in Europe this week, but given the form of the home side, I reckon it will be the Yellow Submarine who go into the second leg with the advantage.”

Owen does, however, think that Arsenal will get a crucial away goal at the Estadio de la Ceramica, with him predicting a 2-1 win for Villarreal.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta would probably take that scoreline, even though he would certainly be looking to bring back some sort of lead from Spain if at all possible.

With the Gunners having had six days to prepare for this game, after playing their last match against Everton on Friday evening, the players should be fresh and ready to go. The season is pretty much riding on the result and the return fixture so they need to be at the top of their game.