Rennes vs Arsenal: 5 key players to avoid the nervous twitches

Arsenal ended up making BATE Borisov look easy enough, but it didn’t start that way. Here are five key players to make this an easier first leg than last.

Arsenal travel to France to take on Rennes in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. Last time I was talking about the first leg of a knockout stages, I was practically guaranteeing that the Gunners would go to Belarus and make short work of BATE Borisov, at which point they could send out the kids in the second leg.

That didn’t happen. And while I am tempted to go guaranteeing a different outcome in this first leg, I won’t. Because I’d rather talk about why it won’t be the same, mostly because of how this fixture fits in between Tottenham and Manchester United, with the Gunners so honed in on their play at the moment that (okay, I’ll say it) I don’t see any way they repeat the Belarusian failure.

As for available players for this match, there isn’t much to report. Alexandre Lacazette is still serving his three match ban and will miss both legs, returning for the next round. Other than that, the three lengthy injuries are still in play, but everyone else will be available for selection.

So let’s talk about the five key players in this match-up. I think you’ll see a general theme. We start with No. 5.

5. Alex Iwobi

Being the youthful sprite that he is, I reckon there’s no way that his heavy workload against Tottenham sees him out of this one, particularly because this is the type of match that Iwobi thrives in.

His attacking style will be a key fixture in this one, as his step-overs always seem to thrive a bit better against lesser defenses, and for as solid as Rennes have been this year, Iwobi is going to have the tools necessary to cause all kinds of problems. Plus, anytime he is paired with Sead Kolasinac, which he figures to be, the two are just deadly.

He’ll score a goal in this one, I feel it in my bones. And with that said, let’s move on to No. 4.