Arsenal coefficient 105.192 - highest of all teams in the Europa League

Group H

Arsenal
Bate Borisov
Köln
Crvena Zvezda

Arsenal record vs these teams:

Köln 1 win (2:1) 1 loss (1:0) - 1971
Crvena Zvezda 1 draw (1:1) 1 loss (1:0) - 1978

Among the Red Star fans it's still remembered the game where Red Star kicked out Arsenal from Europe, where they describe total silence in London after their team scored a goal, the player that scored is known to be the first player that fans used to chant his full name, meaning first and last name xD

won't be easy, Bate isn't that bad and Zvezda playing at home is always scary.. At least the matches are somehow at central europe and not very long flights.

Hopefully, Arsenal can top their group and have a easier opponent in the knockout phase. That or somehow, Bayern or Real will finish third in CL and Arsenal will have to play them. XD

Idrc about Europa League tbh. If we win I will be happy, but we shouldn't focus on it. I dont want to finish 6th in the league to get champions league for sure.

Then again February/March we will lose, no need to hope for new stuff.

Arsenal should win this tournament. Any case of an elimination it is a failure. Remember Championship means UCL. They have the quality to win it.

Edit: Why do I say this? Because even ManU won it last year. If they focus on it and fail to win then no explanation. But if they just don't care, it means you are sure you'll be getting into top3.

@Emre Disagree with you, while its true Arsenal can be good contender for the EL title, its still a very hard competition and I wouldn't be suprised that even some of the top team in a the world could fail to win it. All it take is a single mistake from the manager, a single bad call from a ref and since there is more game than in CL, its even more likely than one of those thing happen. Thats why I consider it to be nearly as hard as CL.

When the third placed teams in the CL groups come into the EL, then things will get interesting, but I think Arsenal might as well go all in for the EL unless they know they're going to finish in the top four. I'd rather win the EL and come sixth or lower in the league than finish fifth in the league.

finishing fifth or lower will be huge disappointment even if we manage to win EL. Don't forget Arsenal is a club which likes to choke, specially to "not that good" teams.

Perhaps, but I think Arsenal have a greater chance of winning the EL than finishing in the top four.

itll be interesting to see if arsenal go for the prem or for the EL exclusively. i mean, considering sanchez, ramsey, ozil, ox, wilshire, carzola and others contracts expire at the end of the season, id expect them to go for the prem and not care at all about the EL

@Emo Agreed, there are a lot of weak teams in group stage, and the couple next stages but at some point it's likely they might end up going against the likes of Milan, Everton, Lyon, Lazio, Zenit, Villareal or some CL 3rds like maybe Roma, Tottenham/Borussia Dortmund. And I'm not so sure if Arsenal are up for it.

Wenger said he is focusing in league, but hey, he has said a lot of things...

Zvezda and BATE will be tricky fixtures, Koln will be hard for them. Overall they will pass but not easily.

Gonna meet you later in the competition ;)

3:1 win after being behind 1:0 is a relief, the other match was 1:1 so it all goes in favor for Arsenal that rested alot of players.

@Golazo So refreshing to see a Chelsea fan who respect Arsenal. :D By the way Golazo, want me to modify your pofile pic so it doesn't stretch as much?

I think the possibility of borussia Dortmund dropping into EL could cause some problems for arsenal

@nigel Indeed, though it could be interesting if Spurs were to drop there and play Arsenal later in the competition. A derby for a semi-final or a final would be sweet. :D

I don't wanna play Tottenham tbh. They'd beat us right now, first time in many decades they are better than us. Hate to admit this so much but it's true.

Arsenal doing well in the group, another win while Köln now has 2 loses after they lost at home.

Oh look Köln had a game at home and...Red star fans didn't come by 20 000 people with no tickets, crazy right, everything in order at home and all...dont want to wake up mamma Merkel during her nappy time...