Zurich vs Arsenal

Kybunpark is the venue as Zurich and Arsenal go head-to-head in their opening Europa League Group A showdown.

Defender Swiss Super League champions Zurich eased past British clubs Linfield and Hearts in the final two Europa League qualifying ties to reach the competition’s group stage for the first time since 2018/19. Despite falling to a 2-1 home defeat to fellow domestic opponents Lugano at the weekend, switching to St Gallen’s Kybunpark could turn Zurich’s fortunes around. Zurich have already proved they are no pushovers in this competition, going unbeaten in ten of their last 12 Europa League group stage outings in Switzerland (W6, D4). However, they lament a 70% losing ratio against English sides in major European competitions (W3, L7), suggesting they might have to play out of their skins to stand a chance against one of the leading candidates to win the Europa League this term.

After narrowly missing out on the Premier League top-four finish on the final day of last season, Arsenal are set to embark on their fifth Europa League campaign in six years. The ‘Gunners’ boast an eye-catching 75% win ratio in the Europa League group stage matches (W18, D4, L2), so it’s unsurprising they’ve advanced to the knockouts in all four previous appearances at the tournament. But with manager Mikel Arteta likely to rest several key players ahead of Arsenal’s upcoming Premier League match against Everton, the Londoners’ perfect European record against Swiss clubs could be in jeopardy (W6). Indeed, the visitors may take the field with their spirits crushed following a 3-1 defeat at Manchester United last weekend that prevented them from consolidating the top spot in the Premier League (W5, L1).