Europe League preview: Arsenal and Chelsea aim to impress in MD 2
By Dylan Walsh
Unai Emery is keen to make an impact in the Europa League this season. (Photo Credit: Getty Images/David Price)
One of the best things about the Europa League is that it is the perfect opportunity for tiny, unknown teams in the more adventurous and underrated countries of Europe to make a name on a global stage. This week is certainly no different and could see one of these tales begin.
Arsenal and Chelsea take on two of the most obscure teams in the Europa League in the form of Qarabag FK and MOL Vidi FC respectively. Who are these teams? Where even are they on the map? What the heck is a Qarabag? All will be answered below.
Arsenal’s Azerbaijani Adventure
Arsenal ran away 4-2 winners against FC Vorskla in matchday 1. (Photo Credit: Getty Images/Marc Atkins)
Unai Emery’s side kick-off in the earlier round of games on Thursday as the Gunners take on the six-time Azerbaijan League champions Qarabag FK.
Located in Baku, the capital of the South Caucasus country, Qarabag are one of the biggest and largest supported teams in Azerbaijan despite playing in a stadium that only holds over 5,000 fans.
One of the biggest stories of the fixture so far is that Arsenal’s #7 Henrikh Mkhitaryan has not travelled to with the squad to the far east of Europe due to political tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the country Mkhitaryan is from and captains on an international level.
Scouting the Azerbaijan Champions
Despite no Mkhitaryan, Arsenal have travelled to Baku with a near-full strength squad, but who should the Gunners look out for in Qarabag’s team?
Set up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, the main man for the Azerbaijan side this season is Filip Ozobic. The Croatian midfielder has appeared in all but one of Qarabag’s 12 games this season and is currently the club’s joint top goalscorer with two goals. Despite playing behind the main striker, Ozobic is a midfielder who likes to attack on goal and find unique ways to set up teammates.
Another player Arsenal have to keep an eye on is winger Mahir Madatov, who at 21-years-old is an international starter for the Azerbaijan national team and a player that has been tipped as the next big star in football from the region.
Despite the insane distance and losing a main player to political reasons, Arsenal should come away with this away game with the three points.
Prediction: Arsenal 4-0 Qarabag FK
Blue Youngsters Set to make European Debut
Chelsea fans will be hoping for some younger faces to feature midweek Photo Credit: (Getty Images/MB Media)
Europa League football returns to Stamford Bridge this week as Chelsea welcome Hungarian side MOL Vidi FC to West London.
Maurizio Sarri surprised fans last time out in the Europa League in Greece against PAOK when the Italian manager decided to field a pretty strong XI despite the Blues having an important Premier League game against Newcastle just three days later, wasting an opportunity for the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ethan Ampadu to gain some valuable first-team minutes.
This week against Vidi, though, could see a heavily rotated side as Chelsea are off the back of back-to-back games against Liverpool in both the League Cup and Premier League, so it will not be a shock to see Sarri field a heavily rotated team in Thursday night.
The Fall and Hopeful Rise of Hungarian football
It has been five years since Vidi FC, and a Hungarian team, have competed in either the Champions League or Europa League group stages. Once one of the best nations in the world for producing talent and arguably the best country never to win the World Cup, look up Hungary in the 1950s and you will understand why, it is now a sad sight to see so little Hungarian teams make it into European competitions.
So who are Vidi FC? Based in Szekesfehervar try pronouncing that, Vidi are the current champions of the NB I Championship and are back in Europe after a five-year absence from either of the tournaments.
The Hungarian side have faced English opposition only once in their history in the form of Manchester United back in 1985 in which Vidi beat the English giants on penalties in the UEFA Cup.
Managed by Marko Nikolic, who at 39-years-old is the youngest manager in the Europa League, Vidi have been praised over the past year for their slick, quick style of football in a flashy 4-3-3 formation that led them to the league title last season.
Vidi’s main threat for Chelsea is experienced striker Marko Scepovic, who has already scored in Europe this season in Champions League qualifying and is off the mark in domestic football too. A classic #9, Scepovic is a battering ram in attack that will make things difficult for Chelsea’s defence.
Former AC Milan academy player Krisztian Tamas could also give Chelsea some problems from the left flank as the attacking fullback enjoys to bomb down the wing and cause problems for the opponent.
Just like with Arsenal, though, Chelsea should ease to victory in this game and should use this opportunity to give the highly talented youngsters in the squad some game time.
Prediction: Chelsea 4-1 Vidi FC
