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Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava
Uefa Europa League 2018/19
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Date: Thursday September 20, 2018
Kick-off: 8pm BST
Unai Emery’s bid for a fourth Europa League title begins against unfamiliar opposition on Thursday as Arsenal welcome Vorskla Poltava to the Emirates.
As head coach of Sevilla, Emery won an unprecedented three Europa League crowns in a row - but at Arsenal his focus is domestic success over the continent, for now at least.
That means Emery is expected to ring for the changes against a side who finished third behind Shakhstar Donestk and Dynamo Kiev in the Ukrainian Premier League last season, and are playing in the Europa League group stage for only the second time in their history.
Scroll down for Standard Sport's comprehensive preview...
TV, online and live stream coverage
The match will be televised live on BT Sport 2. BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match online via the video player and the BT Sport app.
You can also follow all the goals LIVE with Standard Sport, with James Olley and James Benge in attendance.
Tickets
For Arsenal ticket information, click here for the club's website.
Prediction
Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
- Arsenal to win 2-0: 9/2
- Henrikh Mkhitaryan to score anytime: 10/11
- Under 2.5 goals: 15/8
- Arsenal to be drawing at half-time and winning at full-time: 16/5
- Danny Welbeck to score two or more goals: 3/1
Click here to find the latest match odds and place a bet.
Head to head
The two sides have never faced each other in a Uefa competition. In 10 games against Ukrainian opposition Arsenal have won four, lost four and drawn two, scoring and conceding 15 goals.
Team news
Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle but none of the quartet of first-teamers currently sidelined are expected to be available this month.
In Pictures | Newcastle vs Arsenal | 15/09/18
That means Unai Emery will likely not be able to rest left-back Nacho Monreal with both Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles sidelined until October. However 18-year-old defender Dominic Thompson trained with the first-team on Wednesday and could feature in some capacity.
Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno and Lucas Torreira are expected to make their first starts since joining in the summer whilst fringe players such as Danny Welbeck, Rob Holding and Mohamed Elneny should also play more prominent roles.
