Arsenal have announced their team. Matt Macey starts, having been on the bench a couple of times of late.
Hello world!
The simple maths: Arsenal will certainly qualify from Group H if they win, or if they draw and Köln get a point or more against BATE Borisov. If they slip up tonight they’ll probably go through anyway, but still. Their last defeat in the Europa League/Uefa Cup was way back in March 2000, though they have played only eight games since then (seven victories and a draw, since you ask), and though it took an outrageous Olivier Giroud goal to earn them maximum points in Belgrade a fortnight ago, they deserved to win that game despite being away from home and not playing particularly well. You can read all about that game here:
Omen dept: With victory tonight Arsenal would have won their first four matches of the group stage, a feat they have managed in European competition only once, in 2005 – and that year they went all the way to the final. With a trip to Manchester City to come on Sunday expect to see a few personnel changes – “I’ve gone into a rotation policy and I want to stick to that at the moment,” says Arsene Wenger. Team news to come as I get it. And in the meantime, hello!
Arsenal FC
