Arsenal meet FC Vorskla on Thursday night as they begin their second adventure in the Europa League with the competition’s most experienced manager at the helm this time.

With few Arsenal fans aware of what they are likely to get from the game, here are some stats and facts courtesy of UEFA to give you a little flavour of what to expect.

Arsenal v FC Vorskla Poltava

2017/18 semi-finalists Arsenal return to the UEFA Europa League with a new coach in competition specialist Unai Emery and with a home fixture against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava who, like the Gunners, qualified automatically for the group stage through their domestic league position.

2Form guide

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NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 15: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal FC at St. James Park on September 15, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Arsenal

  • The Gunners finished sixth in the 2017/18 Premier League – their lowest final placing under Arsène Wenger in his swansong season as manager after 22 years. It did earn them a second successive qualification for the UEFA Europa League group stage.
  • UEFA Champions League ever-presents for 19 successive seasons until last term, Arsenal reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals at the first attempt, going out to eventual winners Atlético Madrid. Their home record during that run was W4 D2 L1, the only defeat coming in the round of 32 against Östersund (1-2) after they had won the first leg 3-0 in Sweden.
  • The 1999/2000 UEFA Cup runners-up won last season’s UEFA Europa League group stage opener 3-1 at home to Köln. The last time the Gunners failed to win at home on matchday one was in 2003/04, when they lost 3-0 to Internazionale Milano at Highbury in the UEFA Champions League.

Vorskla

  • Vorskla secured a place in this season’s UEFA Europa League group stage by finishing third in the 2017/18 Ukrainian Premier League – their joint-highest ever final placing, matching their achievement in 1996/97, when they qualified for Europe for the first time.
  • This is the club’s seventh European campaign and their second in the UEFA Europa League group stage. They had to win three qualifying ties to make the grade in 2011/12, including a play-off success against Dinamo Bucureşti, but their six group games yielded just two points and bottom place in a section featuring Standard Liège, Hannover and FC København.
  • It was in that tie against Dinamo that Vorskla claimed their last European away win (3-2). Since then five trips abroad have brought two draws and three defeats.