Arsenal Vs BATE Borisov: Win the tie now

Arsenal travel to BATE Borisov on Thursday night for the first leg of their Europa League knockout tie. Unai Emery has the chance to win the tie now and rest his stars in the second leg. He should take it.

The Europa League recommences on Thursday night. The knockout stages are where the competition really gets going. But this time, because of the standard of the clubs that dropped down from the Champions League, the draw has opened up somewhat. In fact, Arsenal are one of the clear favourites to win the competition.

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Winning the Europa League hands them a place in next season’s Champions League. As the club has repeatedly stated this year, reclaiming Champions League status is the primary goal for Unai Emery’s first season at the helm. What better way to do it than by winning a European trophy at the same time, something that Arsene Wenger was never able to do.

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The argument against fully committing to the Europa League is that the Premier League should be the main priority and finishing in the top four would be a better foundation for Emery to build off in the future. And I do not disagree with that sentiment. For now, the Premier League should be the first competition that Emery prepares for.

But given the current fixture schedule, it is possible for Arsenal to field their best players in both competitions and not suffer from fatigue. Because of their early exit in the FA Cup and their failure to reach the EFL Cup final, something that they did do last season, they don’t actually have that many more games to play this season. 12 more in the Premier League plus however many are required in the Europa League.

This weekend is the fifth round of the FA Cup. Arsenal do not have a match after their loss to Manchester United in the fourth round. So when they travel to Belarus to face BATE Borisov on Thursday night, Emery will have every right to play his full strength starting XI.

The Gunners’ next match will the second leg, a week later. A whole week off in the middle of the season is a rare occurrence for a top club competing in several competitions, especially if they go deep in Europe. This, then, is the perfect opportunity for Emery to win the tie in the first leg and then rest players in the second leg, which is proceeded by another match just three days later.

The likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Lucas Torreira, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Laurent Koscielny that have typically been rested in the Europa League so far this season should all start on Thursday. Playing away from home, a 2-0 win would be enough for Arsenal to essentially end the tie before the second leg ever gets going.

Whether Emery will rotate or not, we will find out an hour before kick-off when the line-up is announced. But I hope that he plays the best team possible. The Europa League is there to be won, starting on Thursday.