Zurich vs Arsenal Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups | OneFootball

Premier League leaders Arsenal embark on their fifth Europa League campaign in the past six years away to defending Swiss champions Zurich.

Mikel Arteta could use Thursday’s encounter at the Kybunpark to rally his troops after a 3-1 defeat at Manchester United last weekend prevented them from solidifying the top spot in the Premier League.

Despite the Gunners’ impressive league start, they know that the Europa League could serve as a potential route back into the Champions League, where Arsenal last played in 2016/17.

After falling short of a long-awaited Premier League top-four finish on the final day of last season, Arteta’s men join Europe’s second-tier competition as one of the leading candidates to lift the title.

But with Bodo/Glimt and PSV Eindhoven being the two remaining participants in this competitive Group A, flying out of the traps in St. Gallen could be of paramount importance.

Zurich eased past British opponents Linfield and Hearts in the final two Europa League knock-out rounds to secure their first group stage appearance at the tournament since 2018/19.

Like Arsenal, Franco Foda’s men head into proceedings on the back of a domestic failure, with fellow Swiss Super League rivals Lugano beating them 2-1 at the weekend.

Playing this fixture as nominal hosts at St. Gallen’s Kybunpark will unlikely do any favours to Zurich, who will be out to defy an underwhelming 70% losing ratio in European matches against English clubs (W3, L7).

Match Preview

Zurich

Despite picking up only three victories from their ten meetings with English adversaries in European football thus far, each Zurich’s success in those match-ups came on home turf.

Indeed, the Swiss are no pushovers at home, as witnessed by their 83.33% unbeaten home rate across their last 12 Europa League group stage outings in Switzerland (W6, D4, L2).

However, Foda’s lads have lost two consecutive home league outings in the build-up to this fixture via an aggregate score of 6-3 after winning successive Europa League home qualifiers versus British visitors.

Arsenal

Arsenal have reached the Europa League knock-out stages in each of their four previous appearances in the competition, including the 2021/22 semi-final exit to Villarreal in their most recent foray into the tournament.

Keen to at least do one better this term, the Gunners take this trip to St. Gallen carrying a 100% win ratio across six historical meetings with Swiss clubs in European football.

Their decent Europa League runs are unsurprising, with Arsenal racking up an eye-catching 75% win rate in the competition’s group stages to date (W18, D4, L2).

Zurich vs Arsenal Potential Line-ups

Zurich (3-5-2): Yanick Brecher; Karol Mets, Becir Omeragic, Mirlind Kryeziu; Adrian Guerrero, Nikola Boranijasevic, Blerim Dzemaili, Antonio Marchesano, Ole Selnaes; Donis Avdijaj, Aiyegun Tosin.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Matt Turner; Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Magalhaes, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Albert Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira, Martin Odegaard; Marquinhos, Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah.

How to Watch?

Zurich vs Arsenal, alongside all other matches in Europe’s most prestigious club competition this season, is available to watch online via Europa League live streams.

Zurich vs Arsenal Prediction

Since Arteta is likely to rest some key players ahead of Arsenal’s upcoming Premier League clash against Everton, the Gunners may not necessarily brush Zurich aside.

But we back them to get their Europa League Group A campaign off to a flying start, nonetheless, and record a two-goal margin triumph.

Zurich 0-2 Arsenal