Arsenal vs Vorskla 21/09/18

21 September 2018

Arsenal will kick off their second consecutive Europa League campaign in front of the home crowd, as they prepare to take on the Ukrainian outlet Vorskla Poltava at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners suffered a semi-final elimination by Atletico Madrid last season under the guidance of Arsene Wenger, but Unai Emery is considered the Europa League expert, as he has already won the competition three times with Sevilla. As for this season, the London side notably raised their game after two successive defeats in the two opening fixtures, clinching three straight wins, over West Ham, Cardiff City, and Newcastle United, but they are yet to keep a clean sheet in the English Premier League so far.

On the other hand, the Green-Whites have a record of four wins and four defeats in eight Ukranian Premier League encounters, but a match in London will be their first in the group stage of the international competition since 2011. Since the start of the season, Vasyl Sachko’s team only managed to keep a clean sheet twice in eight games, which may be their biggest problem, considering they’ll have to handle the likes of top-class forwards such as Aubameyang and Lacazette.

Sead Kolasinac and Laurent Koscielny will remain on the sidelines due to injuries, while Denys Vasin, Volodymyr Odaryuk, and Yuri Kolomoets won’t be traveling with the rest of the squads as reported by some domestic journalists.