Paris: Last season’s Europa League finalists Arsenal and 2017 champions Manchester United can clinch places in the last 32 of the competition this week, while group leaders Celtic face a “titanic game” away to Lazio.
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Arsenal have won just twice in nine Premier League outings but are chasing a fourth straight victory in Group F away to bottom side Vitoria Guimaraes on Wednesday.
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Gunners boss Unai Emery has stripped Granit Xhaka of the captaincy in the wake of an emotional outburst towards supporters in last month’s draw at home to Crystal Palace.
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“I was speaking with him this morning and I decided he’s not one of the captains in our group and I decided that and I told him this morning,” Emery said Tuesday. “He accepted my decision.”
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who wore the armband at the weekend against Wolves and will take over the role full-time, was also left out of the travelling squad along with Mesut Ozil and David Luiz.
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United can punch their ticket to the knockout phase on Thursday with another win over Partizan Belgrade, the Serbian side coached by former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team registered a 1-0 win in Belgrade a fortnight ago and are one of just two clubs yet to concede a goal in the competition.
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The Norwegian urged his United players to bounce back from Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Bournemouth that left them a dismal 10th in the table.
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“You have got to react, you have got to recover,” said Solskjaer, who is still without Paul Pogba because of an ankle problem.
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“We have two more games before the international break, we’ve got a chance on Thursday to qualify in Europe and then Brighton at home — so we need a response.”
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Back-to-back home wins have fired Celtic top of Group E and the Scottish champions could qualify with three points in the Italian capital, if Rennes fail to beat Cluj.
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Neil Lennon’s side will make the trip full of confidence after setting up a League Cup final clash with Rangers following a 5-2 win over Hibernian.
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“We know what a huge incentive it is to go to Rome and get a result, and off the back of the semi-final win and the feel-good factor, psychologically, the players will all be in a good place,” said Lennon.
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“It’s a titanic game ahead of us, we know the calibre of opposition we’ve got on Thursday night in Lazio, but it’s not beyond us.”
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Steven Gerrard’s Rangers face two-time European champions Porto at Ibrox knowing a victory would leave them well positioned in Group G.
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Wolves will look for a third consecutive win in Group K at home to Slovan Bratislava having recovered well from an opening loss in their first European campaign since 1980.
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Record five-time winners Sevilla, who have maximum points and top Group A, will advance with victory away to Luxembourg’s Dudelange, while Roma travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach in Group J.
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The two sides drew 1-1 in Italy a fortnight ago when Lars Stindl converted a contentious stoppage-time penalty for Gladbach.
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Eintracht Frankfurt, who lost to eventual champions Chelsea on penalties in last season’s semi-finals, will look to keep the momentum going against Standard Liege after Saturday’s 5-1 demolition of Bayern Munich.
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