Thursday 28 September 2017 18:19, UK
Charlie Nicholas provides us with his Europa League predictions as Arsenal and Everton look to avoid further struggles.
The Gunners had to come from behind to beat Cologne at the Emirates in the opening round of group games, while Everton slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Atalanta.
Both are short-priced favourites for victories this Thursday and Charlie is confident the two sides can continue their improvements after troubling starts to the season.
Here's what he's predicting for the two clashes...
Well, Arsenal are going to have a strong team because I imagine Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere are going to get a good run out again.
I think a decent bit of momentum is building with a few good results racked up thanks to some solid defensive performances.
This is where the healthy competition really starts to shine through. Players don't mind battling for their places when the team is winning and the attitude should be positive.
Arsene Wenger has good options to rotate and I'd be looking at them to win by a couple of goals here, with a few different names getting themselves on the scoresheet.
Charlie predicts: 1-3 and Walcott to score first (35/1 with Sky Bet)
Every game is tough at the moment for Everton. Oumar Niasse has dug Ronald Koeman out of a hole but he won't be fazed by being proved wrong.
We were looking at their attacking choices on Soccer Saturday and it is a bit of a mess. Is Wayne Rooney getting in Gylfi Sigurdsson's way? Is Sandro Ramirez good enough for them?
I covered them in the Carabao Cup and they looked tense, but they showed good character against Bournemouth at the weekend, recognising they are in a battle.
Koeman has been honest admitting he was concerned with the team and I think they've had a good look at themselves. They're in a similar position to Arsenal were a few weeks ago in the sense of just needing to tie a couple of wins together.
They're playing catch-up after their loss to Atalanta and they don't have many goals in them, but I do like the boy Dominic Calvert-Lewin and I fancy him to get on the scoresheet at least once here.
Charlie predicts: 3-0 and Calvert-Lewin to score first (17/1 with Sky Bet)
