Arsenal started the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League as the bookmaker’s favourites and nothing has changed following their first fixture in Group H. Having failed to qualify for the Champions League this season, playing in the Europa League is a new experience for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium but this week they face an away trip to play BATE Borisov in Belarus. BATE Borisov are not newcomers to the European football scene and have participated in the group stages of the Champions League themselves in recent years and will be hoping to cause an upset on Thursday night.
BATE Borisov Form
This will be BATE Borisov’s first home match of the group and they started their campaign with a 1-1 draw at Red Star Belgrade. The point in Serbia means BATE Borisov are undefeated in their last 6 games in all competitions, with 5 wins and 1 draw. They are currently 2 points adrift of the top spot in the Belarus Premier League and are well into their domestic season, having played 23 games. BATE are a difficult team to play on their own turf and they have lost only 1 of their last 18 games at the Borisov Arena.
Arsenal Form
Arsenal make the trip to Belarus on the back of a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Monday night. The Gunners are undefeated in their last 5 matches in all competitions, winning 4 of them and picked up a good point in 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal started their Europa League campaign with a 3-1 victory over Koln at the Emirates Stadium. The match was not as comfortable as the final score suggests and Arsenal were forced to come from behind to win the game. Defensively Arsenal have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks and have conceded 1 goal in their last 5 matches but have failed to win any of their last 3 away games.
Team News
BATE Borisov come into this match with a clean bill of health and have a full squad from which to select their starting XI. They are expected to set out in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Vitali Rodionov playing up-front. Arsenal will be without Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Danny Welbeck and Calum Chambers due to injury. Mesut Ozil is rated as doubtful and Arsene Wenger will probably rotate his team from Monday night, with Olivier Giroud coming in up-front.
Top Betting Tips
BATE Borisov have scored in 16 of their last 17 home games and with the home fans behind them will be searching for a goal. Arsenal will have plenty of quality going forward themselves and should also find the back of the net in this game. Both teams to score is 4/5 at Ladbrokes. Therefore, if Arsenal are to take maximum points it could be with both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals. Arsenal to win and over 2.5 goals is 21/20 with Ladbrokes and you can get 15/2 with Ladbrokes for the match to end in a 2-1 victory for the Gunners.