Two of English Premier League (EPL) clubs will be aiming to make it through to the semi-final stages of the Europa League as Chelsea confront Slavia Prague at the Sinobo Stadium in the first leg quarter-final while Arsenal faces an acid test against Napoli at the Emirates Stadium today (Thursday).
The Europa League remain the only title hope of Maurizio Sarri after been knocked out in the FA Cup, Carling Cup and out of reach to win the Premier League title.
A visit to Praha gives the Blues a real chance of claiming a silverware and also qualifying directly to the Champions League in case the team fail to make the top four.
After dispatching Maribo 8-0 on aggregate, Chelsea are left to battle a Slavia Prague side that defeated Sevilla 6-5 on aggregate to book a berth in the quarter-final stage.
These two clubs will be meeting in a competitive encounter for the first time in their history.
Chelsea are undefeated in six matches against opposition from the Czech Republic, with their most recent contest coming against Sparta Prague in the last 32 of this competition in 2013.
Slavia Prague are facing English opposition for the first time since losing to Aston Villa in the UEFA Cup during the 2008-09 campaign.
In the other fixture, Two of the Europa League’s big guns face off at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening as Arsenal and Napoli battle it out for a place in the semi-finals.
The Gunners cruised through the group stage but have made hard work of their two knockout-stage fixtures thus far, while Napoli travel to London for this first leg on the back of wins over also-rans FC Zurich and Red Bull Salzburg.
Arsenal and Napoli have met just twice before in Europe, both games coming in the 2013-14 season.
The Gunners won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the group stage of the Champions League, before losing by the same scoreline at the Stadio San Paolo.
Napoli have lost seven and drawn one of their previous eight away matches against English opposition, going down to Burnley, Leeds United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and indeed Arsenal.
This post was last modified on April 12, 2019 11:24 pm