Match Today: Arsenal vs Zurich 3-11-2022 UEFA Europa League

Having missed one chance to finish qualifying for the round of 16 of the Europa League, Arsenal will seek to take the lead in Group A when FC Zurich visits the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

Mikel Arteta's players remain in pole position despite their 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven last week, while their Swiss counterparts can only make it to the Europa League at best.

Arsenal's string of disappointing victories befell Arsenal before that culminated in a deserved loss to PSV Eindhoven last week, with Joey Firman and Luke de Jong scoring in the second half to ensure the battle for the top spot would come to an end in the final round of the match.

That result was, of course, overshadowed by news of a terrible stabbing in Italy that left loaned player Pablo Mari injured, and Arsenal paid tribute to his heart-throb - now out of hospital - during his successful comeback against Nottingham Forest. in the weekend.

Reclaiming top spot in the Premier League with five unanswered goals in the tricky tree-hook, Arsenal are now well positioned to book their ticket to the Europa League Round of 16 and simply need to match or improve PSV's result against Bodeaux Glimt.

So Arteta's team is hoping that the Norwegian artificial turf will be able to stumble their Dutch opponents almost as they did.

Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven are two points ahead of the final round and Emirates Castle is sure to serve the Gunners well on Thursday, as they welcome Zurich in north London after winning each of their last 11 home games.

Moreover, Arsenal's last five European matches in the UAE have ended in wins - losing only one of their last 19 matches - and Arteta has repeatedly stressed the importance of finishing top and avoiding adding a playoff with a former Champions League opponent.

While failure to beat Bodo Glimt would have seen Zurich finish fourth ahead of the final round, Bo Henriksen's team still had something to play for after beating their Scandinavian counterpart 2-1 in the penultimate round.

Pellegrino's hopes gave Bodo Glimt the lead after the hour, but a goal by Nikola Boranijacevic and injury-time winner Antonio Marchesano kept Zurich's hopes of a third-place finish alive, even if they could no longer bother the team's top two.

A 1-0 win over Sion at the weekend led Zurich to back-to-back wins before this game - the Swiss champions had failed miserably to win 13 games in all competitions before beating Bodeau/Glimt - and the new manager looks to have bounced back late, but he has arrived. however.

The visitors are now a point behind Bodo Glimt and will qualify for the Europa League if they pull off a surprise win in the Emirates and the Norwegian side lose to PSV Eindhoven.

A draw might also suffice, but Zurich will then need PSV Eindhoven to win at least six goals at Aspmera.

With a total of 15 goals conceded in their five group stage matches - the worst defensive record in the entire tournament - Zurich will travel to north London with more-than-expected hopes, and Arsenal scored a somewhat nervous 2-1 victory over the Swiss giants two months ago.