Arsenal kickstart their Europa League campaign on Thursday when they travel to Switzerland to face FC Zurich in their first Group A clash. While they would have preferred playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in another European competition, the Gunners will be wanting to give a good account of themselves after a year without any continental involvement.
Mikel Arteta will also be hoping his side can register victory after defeat to Manchester United at the weekend, losing 3-1 despite a dominating performance. When asked whether the first loss of the season would linger, the Spaniard told the media: "It won’t happen.
"That won’t happen because the performance is there and we know what we lacked today - the details to lose the game. You are here and you have a very different performance with the same result and then it’s a hard one to take because you are questioning your level. I don’t think there’s any question about the level there."
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The early stages of the Europa League could provide a good testing ground as well as a place for rotation while weaker opposition remain in the competition. However, as it progresses, it could prove to be an ideal route back into the Champions League as well as a trophy up for grabs.
There could also be plenty of confidence going into the competition too, with a supercomputer backing Arsenal as favourites to win the whole thing. FiveThirtyEight currently give the Gunners the best chance of winning with 10% - double that of the nearest competitors.
Those are Arsenal's group rivals PSV Eindhoven, and Manchester United - both on 5%. The simulation also takes into account teams that drop from the Champions League, with the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich given a slimmer chance if they do happen to drop into the competition.
It could prove a promising early indication for Arteta as to where his side are ranked. However, it remains to be seen if the competition and their season pans out as predicted.
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