Unai Emery’s side are aiming to preserve their long undefeated record, having already secured top spot in Europa League Group E
Arsenal will complete their Europa League Group E campaign with an encounter against Qarabag at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
Unai Emery proved himself a master in this competition with Sevilla, winning it on three successive occasions, and the Gunners boss has negotiated the pool stage with no problems at all.
The London side have four wins from five matches , with the sole blip a draw against Sporting CP , and go into their clash with the group’s bottom club with the expectation of making it five in six.
Game | Arsenal vs Qarabag |
Date | Thursday, December 13 |
Time | 8pm GMT / 3pm ET |
Stream (US only) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
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US TV channel | Online stream |
---|---|
Univision Deportes | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on BT Sport 2 and livestreamed through BT Sport Live.
UK TV channel | Online stream |
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BT Sport 2 | BT Sport Live |
Position | Arsenal players |
---|---|
Goalkeepers | Leno, Martinez, Cech, Iliev, Okwonko |
Defenders | Bellerin, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Mustafi, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Koscielny, Monreal, Jenkinson, Mavropanos, Ballard, Bola, Medley, Olowu, Omole, Osei-Tutu, Thompson, Pleguezuelo |
Midfielders | Xhaka, Elneny, Torreira, Guendouzi, Smith Rowe, Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Burton, Gilmour, Sheaf, Tormey, Zelalem, Clarke, Coyle |
Forwards | Iwobi, Ozil, Welbeck, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Nketiah, Willock, Amaechi, John-Jules, Saka |
Arsenal have not used full-strength teams in Europa thus far and Unai Emery will save the energy of his stars for the busy festive period in the Premier League, in which his side will play seven games in 20 days.
Rob Holding would have been suspended, but faces a long period out injured , while Danny Welbeck and Emile Smith Rowe are both also sidelined.
Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil are available again .
Captain Laurent Koscienly makes his first start of the season, while Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Alexandre Lacazette are also both in the starting XI.
Arsenal starting XI: Martinez; Maitland-Niles, Koscielny, Sokratis, Jenkinson; Willock, Elneny, Nketiah, Ozil, Saka; Lacazette
Position | Qarabag players |
---|---|
Goalkeepers | Vagner, Halldorsson |
Defenders | Medzedev, Huseynov, Rzezniczak, Gurrier, Agolli, Mammadov |
Midfielders | Qarayev, Diniyev, Zoubir, Ozobic, Delarge, Abdullayev, Michel |
Forwards | Madatov, Emeghara |
Qarabag should have a full squad of players open to coach Gurban Gurbanov for this encounter.
Qarabag starting XI: Vagner; Medvedev, Sadiqov, Rzezniczak, Hüseynov, Guerrier; Michel, Qarayev, Slavchev; Zoubir, Madatov
Arsenal are priced at odds of winning 1/4 by bet 365 , while a draw is available at 6/1. A win for Qarabag is given at 11/1.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Arsenal made it 21 games undefeated on Saturday as they recorded a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield in the Premier League.
Unai Emery’s side have not tasted defeat since the middle of August, including five Europa League matches, which have seen the Emirates outfit qualify with plenty to spare.
There is nothing riding on their final Group E encounter, which takes place against a Qarabag side that is bound to want to take the chance to impress on such an impressive stage.
When the sides met in Baku back in October, it was a fringe Arsenal XI that cruised to a 3-0 victory , aided by an early strike from Sokratis. In the second half, Emile Smith Rowe got his first goal for the club while Matteo Guendouzi was also on target.
Emery is liable to use a similar strength of squad again in this encounter against a team that is simply fighting to avoid bottom spot.
A fortnight ago, they were routed 6-1 at home by Sporting CP, while their only points during this campaign were achieved against Vorskla, whom they defeated 1-0 away from home.
Some confidence will have been restored thanks to thumping wins over Inter Baku (5-1) and Zira (6-0), but this match represents an entirely different level for the side that sit second in the Azerbaijan Premier League.