Laurent Koscielny, Granit Xhaka 'Doubts' for Arsenal's Clash with Napoli

Arsenal manager Unai Emery says Laurent Koscielny and Granit Xhaka are both injury doubts for Thursday's UEFA Europa League clash with Napoli.

The Gunners boss offered an update on the two players after they both missed Sunday's 1-0 Premier League defeat to Everton at Goodison Park, per the club's official website.

"Maybe Laurent could've come back to play today but yesterday we knew it wasn't possible. I want to be positive for Thursday but it depends how he's progressing. Xhaka is the same. They are doubts for Thursday.

"We have players and we know we can produce the performance with all the players. When you lose a match, maybe you can look at the players who didn't play, but it's rarely the consequence. We've won matches with other players, other systems, and we need to be efficient in each moment. We need to be consistent like we are a lot of the time, but sometimes we can lose."

Emery will want to have his strongest possible team available to face Napoli. Carlo Ancelotti's side are second in Serie A and will provide a stiff test of Arsenal's Europa League credentials.

Serie A writer David Amoyal offered his view on the tie:

Xhaka has been a key player for Arsenal this season under Emery and was missed against Everton. Emery went with Mohamed Elneny and Matteo Guendouzi in central midfield, and the Gunners often found themselves overrun:

Arsenal also struggled defensively against the threat of Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos were less than impressive in the heart of the Arsenal defence:

Emery will want Koscielny back to bring experience and composure to the defence and deal with the threat of players such as Arkadiusz Milik, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne.

Arsenal's defeat to Everton dealt the Gunners a blow in their race to finish in the top four, and they could drop to fifth if Chelsea avoid defeat to West Ham United on Monday.

The Europa League provides another way for Arsenal to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League, but they will need to be at their best if they are to see off the challenge of a talented Napoli team.