FC Zurich 1-2 Arsenal LIVE! Nketiah goal - Europa League match stream, latest score updates today
The Gunners begin their Europa League campaign with a trip to Switzerland this evening. Arsenal had been on a sublime run of form but came unstuck at the weekend, following a five-match winning run to begin the new season with a spirited defeat at Manchester United. Mikel Arteta will be eager for his side to bounce back quickly in tonight’s early kick-off.
Arsenal have named a strong side for this Group A contest, with £34million summer signing Fabio Vieira earning his first start after injury delays. Teenage winger Marquinhos also starts, along with USA goalkeeper Matt Turner, though Emile Smith Rowe has joined Thomas Partey, Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny on the sidelines.
Arteta’s side will be comfortable favourites to see off the challenge of Zurich, who have endured a woeful, winless start in the Swiss Super League, sitting second from bottom after losing five of their first seven games. Follow the Europa League action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog below, featuring expert analysis from Simon Collings at Kybunpark!
FC Zurich vs Arsenal latest news
GOAL! Nketiah heads home
GOAL! Marquinhos with a debut goal!
FC Zürich 1 - 2 Arsenal FC
19:38 , Alex Young
That was harder than it needed to be, but the Gunners run out deserved winners.
Full-time
19:38 , Alex Young
94min: That’s your lot!
19:34 , Alex Young
90min: Four minutes added on.
19:26 , Alex Young
78min: Jesus is on for Nketiah.
19:14 , Alex Young
68min: Three changes for Arsenal as Zinchenko, Odegaard and Saka are on for Tierney, Vieira and Marquinhos.
A goal and an assist for Marquinhos on his debut.
GOAL!
19:06 , Alex Young
63min: The Gunners are back in front as Nketiah plants a fine header at the back post.
19:03 , Alex Young
60min: First real sight of goal in the second half, and it’s a speculative one as Tosin, 45 yards out, spots Turner off his line. The keeper backtracks quick enough to gather.
Second half
18:54 , Alex Young
A minute’s silence has been held at half-time in Zurich in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away earlier today.
We are back under way.
Half-time!
18:48 , Alex Young
The Gunners largely dominated the half, leading through Marquinhos’ debut goal, only to be pegged back from the penalty spot.
GOAL!
18:30 , Alex Young
43min: Kryeziu makes no mistake.
All square!
PENALTY TO ZURICH!
18:30 , Alex Young
42min: Nketiah fouls inside the area.
18:27 , Alex Young
38min: Tomiyasu is having a jolly good time this evening, bombing forward down the flank in search of, and to create, openings.
Him and Vieira have been standouts.
Simon Collings in Zurich
18:26 , Alex Young
Perhaps the only slight negative for Arsenal so far has been Turner. He’s looked a tad shaky at times, doesn’t look settled yet.
18:21 , Alex Young
32min: Zurich have obviously been reading the blog as they’ve kicked on in the last few minutes, going close with a deflected shot wide of Turner’s goal after the striker miscued six yards out.
18:15 , Alex Young
29min: Zurich struggling to string more than a few passes together. Arsenal appear to have the freedom of the pitch. A second goal appears likely and perhaps imminent.
18:14 , Alex Young
25min: It’s fair to say that Arsenal are firmly on top now. A little wobble in the beginning, but that’s long in the rearview mirror now.
Simon Collings in Zurich
18:09 , Alex Young
How about that for a debut goal? Marquinhos will get praise for the goal, but huge credit to Vieira - who started all that with a great turn and pass.
18:07 , Alex Young
20min: Almost a second! A fine long ball forward from Sambi Lokonga to release Vieira to run through.
He opts for the lob but puts too much spice on the shot which settles on the net.
GOAL!
18:03 , Alex Young
17min: A slow start from the Gunners but they've since improved and Marquinhos fires home for a debut goal!
Lovely finish.
Simon Collings in Zurich
18:01 , Alex Young
After a slowish start, Arsenal are starting to find some rhythm now. Marquinhos looks bright out right and Tierney is overlapping well on the other flank.
17:59 , Alex Young
12min: Finally a sight of goal for Arsenal.
Marquinhos flings in a fine ball from the right, searching for Martinelli but the striker can’t get enough on it so the ball fizzes out of way.
17:54 , Alex Young
8min: More sloppiness from Arsenal as Gabriel nearly puts Turner in all sorts of trouble with a poor pass back. Arsenal survive, but they need to wake up.
17:51 , Alex Young
4min: Not a great start from Vieira, who loses the ball in a promising position to allow Zurich to break quickly.
The final ball is off, to Vieira’s relief, so Arsenal can clear.
Simon Collings checks in
17:49 , Alex Young
The FC Zurich fans behind the goal are in fine voice. Few minutes in and we’ve got flares going off, a bloke banging a drum and another with a megaphone screaming.
Kick-off!
17:47 , Alex Young
Here we go!
17:44 , Alex Young
The teams are out, we are minutes away.
17:39 , Alex Young
Huge boos for Granit Xhaka from FC Zurich fans as his name is read out through the PA system.
He is Arsenal captain tonight.
17:28 , Alex Young
The view inside. Kick-off just over 15 minutes away.
17:12 , Alex Young
From the moment Arteta saw Fabio Vieira in action, he wanted to sign him.
Now, after injury delayed his start, Vieira is ready to get his Arsenal career going.
Here’s Simon Collings, in Zurich, ahead of tonight’s game.
16:54 , Alex Young
Tonight’s game in Zurich is one of the first of the new Europa League season, kicking off in a little under an hour.
It’s the first ever meeting between the teams, let’s hope it’s one to remember.
How the hosts look
16:34 , Alex Young
Zurich XI: Brecher, Boranijasevic, Kamberi, Kryeziu, Aliti, Dzemaili, Selnaes, Okita, Krasniqi, Guerrero, Aiyegun
Subs: Kostadinovic, Omeragic, Santini, Marchesano, Hornschuh, Conde, Avdijaj, Vyunnyk, Rohner, Hodza, Mets, De Nitti
16:33 , Alex Young
Emile Smith Rowe is absent as Arsenal begin their Europa League campaign, with Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos afforded their first starts.
Smith Rowe, who struggled with a groin injury during pre-season, felt some discomfort during a warm-down after Arsenal’s defeat by Manchester United on Sunday, and is not Arsenal only injury issue.
Cedric Soares (knock), Mohamed Elneny (hamstring), Reiss Nelson (quad) and Thomas Partey (thigh) are all out too.
It means Mikel Arteta names a fairly strong team tonight, with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Xhaka and Tierney all playing.
Arsenal XI
16:23 , Alex Young
Starting line-up: Turner; Tomiyasu, Holding, Gabriel; Marquinhos, Sambi Lokonga, Xhaka; Tierney' Vieira, Nketiah, Martinelli
Subs: Ramsdale, Hein, White, Saka, Odegaard, Jesus, Saliba, Zinchenko, Cirjan, Smith, Cozier-Duberry
16:14 , Alex Young
Arsenal remain top of the Premier League and Mikel Arteta, who won the FA Cup at the end of his first season at the Emirates Stadium, is now keen to break the club's continental trophy hoodoo, which stretches back 28 years.
"That's a long time and I would like to be the first one to break that negative record," the Spaniard said.
"But you have to start somewhere and it's tomorrow, and it's time to play well and earn the right to win the match.
"This is a competition that we want to take very seriously against an opponent that is going to make life difficult for us, and we want to start the competition in the right way and maintain our momentum."
15:58 , Alex Young
Granit Xhaka wants to this season finally claim a European trophy after a past near miss in 2019 against Chelsea.
"(I was) Very disappointed, first of all, because when you get to the final you want to win it, for sure," he told reporters in St Gallen on the eve of Arsenal's opener.
"But you can only learn about this. Three years later we are still here now in the Europa League - and it's time to win.
"We want to start well in a new competition, in the Europa League and we want to take the three points back to London."
FC Zurich vs Arsenal prediction
15:34 , George Flood
Given Arsenal’s impressive form, a comfortable away win looks a safe bet this evening.
Arsenal to win, 2-0.
Arsenal predicted lineup
15:32 , George Flood
Here’s how Standard Sport’s Simon Collings sees Arsenal lining up at Kybunpark this evening...
Arsenal predicted XI (4-3-3): Turner; Tomiyasu, White, Holding, Tierney; Odegaard, Lokonga, Xhaka; Vieira, Nketiah, Martinelli
Early Arsenal team news
15:30 , George Flood
Arsenal are set to hand a first start to £34million summer signing Fabio Vieira in Switzerland tonight.
The Portuguese midfielder came off the bench for his debut at Old Trafford on Sunday after injury delays.
The likes of Marquinhos and Matt Turner may also make their senior Gunners debuts, but Cedric Soares (knock), Mohamed Elneny (hamstring), Reiss Nelson (quad) and Thomas Partey (thigh) are all out, while Emile Smith Rowe hasn’t travelled after feeling discomfort in the warm-down at the weekend.
Mikel Arteta should name a fairly strong team here, with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard possibly having to play.
Where to watch FC Zurich vs Arsenal
15:26 , George Flood
TV channel: In the UK, tonight’s game will be broadcast live on BT Sport 2, with coverage beginning at 5:15pm.
Live stream: BT Sport subscribers will also be able to watch the action unfold online via the BT Sport app.
Welcome to FC Zurich vs Arsenal LIVE coverage!
15:18 , George Flood
Good afternoon and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of the 2022-23 Europa League.
Coverage of Manchester United vs Real Sociedad to come later, but first we’re in Switzerland, where Arsenal get their campaign up and running in Group A.
Mikel Arteta’s high-flying Gunners will be keen to make a swift return to winning ways after seeing their 100 per cent start to the season ended by defeat at Old Trafford last time out.
They will be strong favourites to see off a Zurich team that have collected only two points from their opening seven matches in the Swiss Super League this term.
Kick-off this evening is at the earlier time of 5:45pm BST, so stay tuned for match build-up, all the latest team news and live updates, plus expert analysis from Standard Sport’s Simon Collings at Kybunpark.
