How will Everton and Arsenal cope with the Thursday-strain of the Europa League?

The Toffees are first up, travelling to Italy to face Atalanta at 6pm on BT Sport 2. The fixtures list hasn’t been kind to Everton this season. While things began with a 1-0 over Stoke, that was followed by games against Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham (with a trip to Man United to come on Sunday). Everton came away from that 3 game run with a point, against City – not great, but given the competition not necessarily a complete disaster either.



They have had less trouble in the Europa League, where they progressed with minimum fuss, racking up wins against Slovakia’s MFK Ruzomberok and Croatia’s Hajduk Split. Yet a persistent issue both domestically and in Europe has been a distinct lack of goals. The Toffees are really missing Romelu Lukaku, with Wayne Rooney (who has a Super Mega PGM of 22-27) on just 2 goals and young summer signing Sandro (at 16-20) yet to score.

As for Atalanta, they are coming off their best ever Serie A season. The side finished in an unlikely 4th place, ahead Lazio, AC Milan and Inter Milan and now find themselves in a European competition for the first time since the 1990/91 UEFA Cup. And even though they’ve only won once this season – 2-1 against Sassuolo having lost their opening 2 games to Roma and Napoli – they seem to have the edge over their opponents, at an Atalanta/Everton Goal Supremacy spread of 0.1-0.3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.3-2.5.

At 8.05pm Arsenal then make their debut appearance in the Europa League with a visit from Koln on BT Sport 2. Despite being only a few games old the sourness that defined the Gunners’ 2016/17 has already made itself felt this season. A thrilling 4-3 win over Leicester was fraught with error, while 1-0 and 4-0 losses against Stoke and Liverpool have cast a dark cloud over the Emirates that a 3-0 victory over Bournemouth couldn’t dispel.



And now the club have to face the grind of Europa League football. Though they are seen as many as favourites for the competition, Wenger has signalled his priorities by resting a whole host of players, including Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazetete, ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea. Alexis Sanchez, who sits at a Super Mega PGM of 42-49, will feature as he tries to get match fit for the weekend, while Olivier Giroud, at 61-71, is chasing his 100th goal for the club since joining back in 2012.

Even with a second(ish) string side Arsenal shouldn’t have too many issues with their opponents. Though Koln finished in 5th place last season, they were 13 points behind 1899 Hoffenheim in 4th and 33 points adrift of champions Bayern Munich. They’ve also had a dreadful start to 2017/18, losing consecutive games to Borussia Monchengladbach, Hamburger and Augsburg. Unsurprisingly, then, the Gunners will be aiming for a big win, with Spreadex offering an Arsenal/Koln Goal Supremacy spread of 1.35-1.55 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3-3.2.