Vorskla Poltava vs Arsenal preview: Stephan Lichtsteiner travels with Gunners

Europa League game has been moved from Poltava to Kiev in Ukraine

Image: Stephan Lichtsteiner is in the travelling Arsenal squad and could return on Thursday

Stephan Lichtsteiner has travelled with the Arsenal squad ahead of their Europa League game with Vorskla Poltava, although the match is in doubt.

Lichtsteiner has been sidelined with a hamstring injury but has been back in full training and was named in the travelling party to Ukraine.

However, the game has been thrown into doubt after Vorskla Poltava said they did not know if they could fulfil the fixture with the game being moved to Kiev with 48 hours' notice following the introduction of martial law in some areas of the country.

Arsenal are currently three points clear at the top of Group E and have qualified for the knockout rounds, but are yet to secure top spot with Sporting Lisbon currently in second, who will be hoping the Gunners win on Thursday to secure their own path to the last 32.

Team news

Emery has called up a number of youngsters into his travelling squad and some could start on Thursday with the Gunners already assured of a spot in the last 32.

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Alexandre Lacazette (groin) remains out of action this week while Laurent Koscielny played 45 minutes in a U23s match against Derby County on Monday.

Nacho Monreal and Dinos Mavropanos (both groin) should return to the training field next month while Danny Welbeck (ankle) remains a long-term absentee for Emery's side.

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Vorskla Poltava's only previous meeting with English opponents came against Arsenal in the reverse fixture - they lost 4-2 in north London.

Arsenal have never won an away match against Ukrainian opposition (D1 L4), with their last such match coming in November 2010 (1-2 vs Shakhtar Donetsk).

Excluding qualifiers, Vorskla Poltava have never won a home game in major European competition, drawing one and losing five.

Excluding qualifiers, Arsenal are looking to keep three consecutive away clean sheets in European competition for the first time since a run of five en route to reaching the 2005-06 Champions League final.

No side has kept more clean sheets than Arsenal in the Europa League this season (3), while only Slavia Prague and Chelsea (1) have conceded fewer goals than the Gunners (2).

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Charlie Nicholas' prediction

The job's already done really for Arsenal. After meeting the manager last week I could tell there was some fire in his belly and he obviously loves this competition, having won it so many times.

He'll make changes but look at the changes he can make, he can bring in Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey and he's got lots of choices, but whatever team he puts out will be too strong. Their soft centre has gone and they're a lot tougher now, so they'll be too strong.

CHARLIE PREDICTS: 0-4 (28/1 with Sky Bet)

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