Arsenal vs Standard Liège 04/10/19

04 October 2019

For the first time since 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, Arsenal and Standard Liège will meet in European competition, as the two sides come face-to-face at the Emirates Stadium in the UEFA Europa League (EL) matchday two.

After losing 4-1 to Chelsea in an all-English final last season, the hosts have qualified for the EL group stage for the third year in a row. Having successfully negotiated both of their previous group stage campaigns, the Gunners kicked off this campaign with a stunning 3-0 away triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt, which was their sixth win in the last seven EL fixtures. Notably, the North Londoners have kept a clean sheet in their previous five EL group stage matches, securing four wins in that period (W4, D1). Arsenal boast an almost perfect home record against the Belgian sides (W3, D1) and have also won ten of 14 EL matches on home soil (W10, D3, L1).

Meanwhile, the visitors pulled off a 2-0 home triumph over the Portuguese side Guimaraes in the EL curtain-raiser, keeping a clean sheet for the third time in a row in the competition. However, Les Rouches face an uphill task here, having lost all four of their previous European H2Hs with Arsenal. What’s more, Standard had not only suffered six defeats in seven trips to England (D1, L6), but they have also gone down in ten of 20 EL away fixtures (W4, D6, L10). The one thing that can encourage the traveling fans is that Standard arrive at the Emirates on a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W4, D1).