Arsenal look for three points away against Koln in the Europa League
Kick-off : 7:00 PM (Local)
Venue : RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne
Arsenal are currently top of their group with ten points from 4 games. They haven’t lost a game yet and are on their way to next round.
On the other hand, Koln are last in the group. They have just three points from 4 games. Their chances of qualification to next round are slim.
So far Arsenal and Koln have played each other three times. Out of that Arsenal have won twice, while Koln have won once.
In the reverse fixture between Arsenal and Koln, The Gunners came out on top. They won the game 3-1.
All in all it should be a good game on Thursday as both teams will give their all.
Team news and possible line-ups
Vice-captain Jonas Hector will not be available for Koln as due to a knee injury. While Marco Hoger will also be not available for the German side.
Few other players, Heintz, Clemens, Nartey and Risse are also unlikely to feature for the hosts.
As for Arsenal, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla will not be available for Thursday’s match. Whereas Francis Coquelin and Alex Iwobi are available and will likely play.
Koln XI : Horn, Klunter, Maroh, Sorensen, Rausch, Jojic, Lehmann, Clemens, Bittencourt, Cordoba, Guirassy.
Arsenal XI : Ospina, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Holding, Nelson, Elneny, Coquelin, Maitland-Niles, Wilshere, Iwobi, Welbeck.
Prediction
Although it’s not a given that Arsenal will win on Thursday night, they certainly are the favorites. I expect Gunners to do the job tomorrow and get three points. The scoreline could be 3-1. The goalscorers could be Iwobi, Welbeck and Wilshere for Arsenal and Guirassy for Koln.
