Second-placed Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven travels to the home ground of Premier League leaders Arsenal in the Europa League this week.
The Dutch side will look to draw confidence from their manager. The man in charge at PSV is none other than Ruud van Nistelrooy. The former Manchester United striker loved playing against The Gunners, scoring 12 times against the North London club.
PSV Eindhoven will also be looking for their first back-to-back road victories on the continent in almost ten years. The last time they achieved that was almost ten years ago, also in the Europa League.
Arsenal is always good for winning their first three Europa League group-stage fixtures. They have done so in all five of their appearances in the competition. However, they have only ever won their first four games in the group stage once. That was in the 2020/21 campaign. That season they won all six of their group-stage matches.
Arsenal vs PSV FYIs
Kick Off: Thurs, Oct 20, 2022, at 6 pm UK at Emirates Stadium
Competition: UEL Group A, Matchday 4 of 6
Arsenal Team News: Go Here
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple
UEL Group Standings: Arsenal: 1st, 9pts PSV 2nd, 7pts
Starting XI Prediction
In their first two Europa League fixtures, Mikel Arteta heavily rotated his squad, giving fringe players a chance to impress. That experiment seems to be over after he named a very strong side against Bodo Glimt last week. USMNT’s keeper Matt Turner will likely keep his spot as cup goalie, but the rotations will be few and far between other than that.
Here is our starting XI prediction for The Gunners in their next Europa League match.
GK- Turner
DEF- White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney
MID- Xhaka, Partey, Vieira
ATT- Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Match Prediction
Arsenal’s defense in Europe has been beyond belief this season. Despite being repeatedly tested, Norwegian side Bodo Glimt couldn’t find a way past them at home or away.
With the good times firmly back for the faithful at Emirates Stadium, we expect Arsenal to ride the wave of momentum to yet another victory. This could turn into a very special season for Arsenal, either at home or on the continent. Maybe even both. Arsenal 2-1.
Stuart Kavanagh is a journalist currently residing in Broken Hill, Australia. He writes for the Barrier Truth newspaper, along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, He co-hosts the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast and contributes at edgeofthecrowd.com when time permits. He is also the Media & Communications Director at the Newosis Mental Health Foundation. You can find more about the work Newosis Mental Health Foundation does here.
Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.