Arsenal travel to Switzerland on Thursday night to face FC Zurich in their first game of the 2022/23 Europa League campaign.
A poor end to the 2021/22 Premier League season saw Arsenal drop out of the top four and finish the season in fifth, with Mikel Arteta's side securing Europa League this season. This will be the Gunners' fifth season in the Europa League out of the last six, with Arsenal not involved in any Europan Football last season.
Arsenal are joined by PSV, Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich in Group A of the competition, with the latter hosting the Gunners on Thursday. After winning their five opening games of the Premier League season, the Gunners go into the clash on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United.
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Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny are both guaranteed to be absent from the game on Thursday, whilst Emile Smith-Rowe is a doubt after failing to train ahead of the clash. Arteta is expected to make a host of changes to his starting XI, with Marquinhos, Eddie Nketiah and Matt Turner just some of the players expected to play.
So, how could Arteta line up against FC Zurich? Can Arsenal get off the perfect start in the Europa League? We simulated the game to get a score prediction.
FC Zurich vs Arsenal score predicted by simulation
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 22 and updated the squads with the latest transfers. Due to FIFA 22 not having the latest kits, both sides lined up in the kits from the 2021/22 season, while kit numbers for new transfers may also be incorrect.
We predict that FC Zurich could line up in a 3-5-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Brecher; Kryeeziu, Omeragic, Mets; Boranijasevic, Selnaes, Dzemaili, Marchesano, Guerrero; Tosin, Avdijaj.
We then predict that Arsenal could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Turner; Ceric, Holding, Tomiyasu, Tierney; Sambi Lokonga, Xhaka, Viera; Marquinhos, Nketiah, Martinelli.
It was a strong start from Arsenal in Switzerland, with the Gunners sitting in the opposition's half and controlling the game. After 30 minutes of pressure, Arsenal found the lead from an unlikely source.
Rob Holding's attempted long ball forward to Nketiah was cut out by the Zurich defence, but only to the edge of the box. The ball fell perfectly for Albert Sambi Lokonga to shoot first time, and his effort took a wicked deflection to loop over the diving keeper and into the net.
But, just before the break, Zurich found the equaliser with their first opportunity of the game. Adrian Guerrero's mazy run forward saw the Spaniard evade multiple challenges and break into the box, but when closed down by Matt Turner, the winger squared the ball to Aiyegun Tosin to tap into the net.
The goal came against the run of play, but Arsenal came out in the second half just as dangerous as the first. Arteta swapped Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka with Fabio Viera and Marquinhos just after the break, and Odegaard scored to regain Arsenal's lead.
The Norwegian fizzed the ball into the feet of Nketiah before bursting forward and overlapping the striker. Odegaard received the return pass after a clever flick from Nketiah as he was sent through on goal, and the Gunners captain blasted his effort past the 'keeper at the near post for the lead.
Zurich were struggling to hold off the Arsenal attacks, with the home side failing to create any chances and push for an equaliser. After some great play from Gabriel Martinelli down the left, Arsenal made it 3-1 in added time.
After racing forward to latch onto a loose pass, Martinelli beat two men on the byline as he broke into the box. With the angle too tight to shoot, the Brazilian pulled the ball back to Nketiah, and on the turn, the striker drilled his shot across goal to confirm the three points.
FIFA 22 predicted score: FC Zurich 1-3 Arsenal
Here are the full match stats for this simulation.
FIFA 22 predicts that Arsenal could dominate in Zurich on Thursday night, winning 3-1 in Switzerland. The simulation predicted that the home side could frustrate Arsenal as the Gunners waited until the 80th minute to retake the lead, showing that Arteta's side may need to remain patient in the real game.
What do you think the score will be between Arsenal and FC Zurich? Let us know in the comments.
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