Europa League: Gunners Look to Regroup in Europe

FC Zurich vs Arsenal

After seeing their perfect start to the Premier League season come to a screeching end at the hands of Manchester United, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will look to regroup in the Europa League this midweek.

The Gunners will go to Switzerland to take on FC Zurich in their first match of the group stage. Zurich are the reigning Swiss champions after a dominant campaign last season.

However, Zurich are in awful form to start the season and are yet to win in their domestic league. And to make matters worse, the Europa League 2022 betting odds will be against them even more against Arsenal as they are set to play their Europa League opener away from their home stadium.

Talking Points

Arsenal likely to rotate after first defeat

Arsenal’s perfect start to the Premier League season came to an emphatic end as they were rocked 3-1 by rivals Manchester United over the weekend.

The Gunners controlled most of possession and created a good number of chances, but they were not quite as clinical in front of goal and were caught out on the counter-attack.

Arsenal were without key defensive midfielder Thomas Partey due to injury, and his absence was sorely felt in that defeat. Partey and fellow midfielder Mohamed Elneny are still unlikely to return for the midweek match, so Arteta is expected to stick with 22-year-old Albert Sambi Lokonga at the heart of the Arsenal midfield.

Arteta is also likely to make a host of other changes to his starting lineup which has been mostly settled to start the season. Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka would love to play and provide some Europa League 2022 highlights in his home country, but chances are he will be rested after starting each of the first six Premier League games.

The defence is also likely to be significantly altered, with full-backs Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney set to get a run-out.

Up front, Gabriel Jesus is likely to drop to the bench, with Eddie Nketiah expected to lead the line. Meanwhile, summer signings Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos could also be handed their first starts for their new club, especially with Emile Smith Rowe suffering an injury against Man United.

Swiss champions Zurich in serious trouble

Reigning Swiss champions FC Zurich have had a catastrophic start to the season. Not only did they fail to qualify for the Champions League group stage after falling to Qarabag, but they are also struggling mightily in the Swiss Super League.

The Swiss champions are second from bottom in the league as they remain winless in their first seven matches, with five defeats. Moreover, coach Franco Foda’s side have scored just four goals while conceding a whopping 16.

Zurich lost two of their top players from last season in Assan Ceesay – the team’s top attacker with 20 goals and 10 assists – as well as Italian teenager Wilfried Gnonto, who went to Leeds United during the summer transfer window. But still, the complete collapse of the champions to start the season has been staggering.

Zurich head into this Europa League opener on the back of consecutive home defeats against FC Basel (2-4) and FC Lugano (1-2). However, they will not even enjoy home advantage in this match against Arsenal as it will be held at St Gallen’s Kybunpark Stadium.

History

This is the first time Arsenal and FC Zurich will face off in a competitive fixture despite both clubs being somewhat regular participants in the Europa League.

Arsenal are three-time runners-up in the competition, with their most recent trip to the final coming in 2018-19. They made it to the semi-finals in the 2020-21 season but lost to eventual champions Villarreal.

As for FC Zurich, this will be their fifth trip to the Europa League group stage in the last 11 seasons. They have only made it out of the group stage just once in their previous four trips. That came in the 2018-19 season, where they lost 5-1 on aggregate to Napoli in the round of 32.

Betting Tip

With this match set to be played on neutral ground, SBOTOP odds have FC Zurich installed as 6.20 underdogs against Arsenal, who are priced at 1.29 to begin their Europa League campaign with an away win. A draw is 5.40.

Arsenal are set to make significant changes to their starting lineup, so the chances of Zurich getting utterly crushed are not all that great.

But given the Swiss champions’ recent struggles, even a second-string Gunners side should still come away from Switzerland with a sizable win.

 

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.