Vitória vs Arsenal Europa League preview: predicted line-ups, team news

Vitória SC and Arsenal get UEFA Europa League Matchday 4 under way at 6:50 EAT on Wednesday 6 November.

Previous meetings

Europa League Matchday 3 highlights: Arsenal 3-2 Vitória SC. The clubs’ Matchday 3 meeting was their first in UEFA competition. Two late free-kicks from Nicolas Pépé earned Arsenal a dramatic 3-2 home win, maintaining the Gunners’ perfect Group F record.

Vitória SC have now lost on all three visits to England, but are unbeaten at home to English clubs (W1 D2). They were, however, knocked out of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup in the most recent encounter after conceding twice in extra time to draw 2-2 against Portsmouth, having lost the first leg 2-0.

Arsenal have won only one of their six UEFA fixtures in Portugal, though that was the most recent, last season’s 1-0 victory at Sporting CP on Matchday 3 ending a run of three straight defeats in the country – all in the UEFA Champions League.

Form guide

Vitória SC
• Fifth in the Portuguese Liga last season, Vitória qualified for their fifth European campaign since 2017/18, when they finished fourth in their UEFA Europa League group.

• Qualifying wins in the summer against Jeunesse Esch, Ventspils and FCSB enabled the Guimaraes side to make a third appearance in the UEFA Europa League group stage. They have yet to make further progress in the competition, however, coming third in their section on their debut in 2013/14. Back in 2005/06 they also finished bottom of their UEFA Cup group.

• Vitória won all three of their qualifying home games this summer, scoring 11 goals and conceding none – but a sequence of six European matches unbeaten in Guimaraes (W4 D2) ended on Matchday 2 against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Arsenal
• UEFA Champions League ever-presents for 19 successive seasons from 1998/99 to 2016/17, Arsenal reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals at the first attempt in 2017/18, losing to eventual winners Atlético; they went one step further and made it to last season’s final, where they were defeated 4-1 by London rivals Chelsea.

• Fifth place in the 2018/19 Premier League secured a third consecutive UEFA Europa League group stage berth for the Gunners, who had won five European games in a row – one against Rennes, two apiece against Napoli and Valencia – before the final loss in Baku.

• The 1999/2000 UEFA Cup runners-up won all three away fixtures without conceding in last season’s group stage, having won two out of three in 2017/18, a 1-0 reverse at Köln the lone exception. Their overall away record in the UEFA Europa League is W10 D1 L4, with 28 goals scored and 12 conceded.