Eintracht Frankfurt vs Arsenal
Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt am main
Thursday, 19-09-2019 @7:55pm
Referee: Davide Massa (Ita)
Arsenal have had a shaky start to the season and will be hoping to return to winning ways when they take on Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League opener on Thursday evening.
The home side will be without Mijat Gacinovic , who picked up an injury in training last week, while former Swansea City player Jonathan de Guzman misses out due to a muscular problem. Veteran defender Marco Russ is ruled out due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. Sebastian Rode and Goncalo Paciencia are both doubts for the game.
For Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette is out until October with an ankle problem, and the chances of
Kieran Tierney featuring are close to zero as the new signing continues to recover from a hernia operation. Hector Bellerin , Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos are Arsenal’s trio of long-term absentees, although they are all expected to return to training over the next month.
This will be the first competitive meeting between Eintracht Frankfurt and Arsenal. Eintracht’s last three meetings with English opponents have all finished level, with the German side drawing 1-1 with Chelsea in both legs of last season’s Europa League semi-final, before being eliminated on penalties. Arsenal have lost their last four away European games against German opponents, scoring twice and conceding 13 in the process. In Champions League and Europa League combined, Arsenal have not been eliminated at the first group stage since the 1999-00 Champions League. Including qualifiers, Eintracht Frankfurt are unbeaten in their last 16 home games in European competition (W12 D4), since a 1-2 defeat against Palermo in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup.
Man United vs Astana
Old Trafford, Manchester
Thursday, 19-09-2019 @10pm
Referee: Francios Letexier (Fra)
Just like Arsenal, United have endured a none convincing start to the season. However, the Red Devils beat Leicester City 1-0 this past weekend and will be hoping to make it two victories in as many games when Astana comes to town on Thursday night.
The visitors have no injury concerns ahead of game, and will be able to accommodate defender Zarko Tomasevic, who is facing a lengthy domestic ban.
For United, Ole Gunner Solskjaer suggested ahead of last weekend’s 1-0 win over Leicester City that the players not fit for that game might return for the trip to West Ham United, meaning that Pogba,
Anthony Martial , Jesse Lingard and Diogo Dalot will not come back for this game. Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly remain the club’s only long-term absentees, with the latter set for a return by November.
This will be the first ever competitive meeting between an English side and a Kazakhstan side. Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 11 Europa League games (W8 D3), winning the tournament the last time they competed in it (2016-17). In last season’s Europa League, FC Astana became the third side to have as many as eight points from their opening four group games but fail to qualify for the knockout stages. Manchester United have lost their last two home games in European competition. They’ve never lost three in a row at Old Trafford before. After losing six of their first seven away games in major European competition (D1), Astana have lost just one of their last six on the road (W2 D3).
The other Europa League fixtures
Thursday, 19-09-2019 @7:55
-APOEL vs E91 Dedelange
-Qarabag vs Sevilla
-Dynamo Kiev vs Malmo FF
-Copenhagen vs Lugano
-Basel vs Krasnodar
-Getafe vs Trabzonspor
-PSV vs Sporting Lisbon
-LASK vs Rosenborg
-Rennes vs Celtic
-CFR Cluj vs Lazio
-Standard Liege vs Vitoria Guimaraes
Thursday, 19-09-2019 @10pm
-Wolfsburg vs Oleksandria
-Gent vs Saint Etienne
-Roma vs Istanbul BB
-Monchengladbach vs Wolfsberger AC
-Wolves vs Sporting Braga
-Slovan Bratsilava vs Besiktas
-Partizan vs AZ
-Porto vs Young Boys
-Rangers vs Feyenoord
-Ludogorets vs CSKA Moscow
-Espanyol vs Ferencvaros
