Rapid Vienna vs Arsenal confirmed line-ups: Team news ahead of Europa League fixture tonight
The Europa League group stage kicks off on Thursday night and Arsenal open with a trip to Austria.
Mikel Arteta’s side have made steady improvement over the past nine months and they’ll hope to go deep into the competition this year, while also making ground domestically toward the top four places.
They lost at the weekend to Manchester City, but have been largely good this season in terms of their performance level and Arteta could rotate plenty this evening.
Rapid Vienna are second in the Austrian Bundesliga after three wins from four so far in 2020/21.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.
When is the match?
The game kicks off at 5.55 pm on Thursday, 22 October.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on BT Sport 2. Subscribers can also stream the match via the BT Sport website or app.
What is the team news?
Arsenal are likely to keep Bernd Leno in goal, but the defence could see changes with Sead Kolsinac expecting to replace Kieran Tierney at left centre-back. David Luiz and Gabriel are also likely to start alongside the Bosnian with Bukayo Saka staying in his left-wing back spot.
Saka was directly involved in more goals in the Europa League last season than any other Arsenal player and will be hoping to maintain his form this year. Ainsley Maitland-Niles could also replace Hector Bellerin.
Thomas Partey came off the bench to make his debut when the Gunners played Manchester City but managed to pick up a booking in just seven minutes of play.
Rapid Vienna have a number of injured players, meaning the side will have to do without Tamas Szanto, Philipp Schobesberger, Christopher Dibon, and Dalibor Velimirovic. However, they have been in excellent form in the Austrian Bundesliga and are one of only three unbeaten teams in the country's top flight.
Confirmed line-ups
Arsenal: Leno, David Luiz, Gabriel, Kolasinac, Cedric, Elneny, Partey, Saka, Pepe, Lacazette, Nketiah
Rapid Vienna: Strebinger; Barac, Ritzmaier, Fountas, Grahovac; Hofmann, Stojkovic, Kara, Ullmann, Arase; Ljubicic
Odds
Arsenal - 8/15
Draw - 3/1
Rapid Vienna - 5/1
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