Charles Watts tips Arteta to start Aubameyang in Villarreal second-leg

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Charles Watts has claimed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will almost certainly play up front for Arsenal in their Europa League semi-final second-leg against Villarreal.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Goal’s Arsenal correspondent claimed that the 78 minutes in the win over Newcastle United, coupled with the Gabon international’s goal, is enough to see Arteta turn to the ace as opposed to the failed false nine system he deployed last week.

Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointment in a bid to save their season and hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. Goals from Trigueros Munoz and Raul Albiol were enough to see Unai Emery’s overcome the Gunners, but, Nicolas Pepe grabbed a vital away goal.

When speaking about Aubameyang and Arteta’s selection for Thursday, Watts said: “Auba got 78 minutes against Newcastle so he’s going to play against Villarreal, I think that’s an absolute certainty he’ll play there. The whole false nine experiment, that would have just been a one-off, now that Auba’s got 78 minutes under his belt and he’s scored which is a big boost, he’ll certainly lead the line against Villarreal, and then it’s all a case of who plays in that three behind him.”

TBR View: Aubameyang over false nine

Employing the 38-year-old as Arsenal’s head coach back in December 2019 came with a few risks, however, the biggest one was the fact Arteta had never managed in his career before.

The Spaniard’s only managerial role of note was assistant manager under Pep Guardiola whom he joined after he retired from professional football back in 2016.

His deployment of the false nine system was one of the biggest talking points from last week’s loss and, in all honesty, it was a disaster. The Gunners were lucky not to be on the end of a pasting with a 2-1 loss proving a remarkable success.

This being said, it would be a shock to see the manager continue to employ his failed first-leg tactics for the second leg. Aubameyang’s goal and minutes, which saw him earn the tag ‘intelligent’ from Pat Nevin, from Sunday make him a sure inclusion for the clash as the Gunners look to recover to make their second European final in three years.