Europa League Matchday 1 preview: Stats, team news, key games for 2019/20 UEL kick-off

Темы: TV SCHEDULES, Arsenal, Frankfurt, Sevilla, Manchester United, Porto, Wolves, Braga, Lazio, Roma, UEFA Europa League

The UEFA Europa League returns on Thursday! Here's everything you need to know as Arsenal, Man Utd, Frankfurt, Porto, Wolves, Roma, and many others begin their campaign to win the title.

2019/20 UEFA Europa League Matchday 1 fixtures - time and date

Thursday, September 19, 2019

APOEL vs F91 Dudelange at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Basel vs Krasnodar at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
CFR Cluj vs Lazio at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Dynamo Kyiv vs Malmö FF at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Arsenal at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Getafe vs Trabzonspor at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
København vs Lugano at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
LASK Linz vs Rosenborg at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
PSV vs Sporting CP at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Qarabağ vs Sevilla at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Rennes vs Celtic at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Standard Liège vs Vitória Guimarães at 12:55 ET/16:55 GMT
Borussia M'gladbach vs Wolfsberger AC at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Espanyol vs Ferencváros at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Gent vs Saint-Étienne at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Ludogorets vs CSKA Moskva at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Manchester United vs Astana at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Partizan vs AZ at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Porto vs Young Boys at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Rangers vs Feyenoord at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Roma vs İstanbul Başakşehir at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Slovan Bratislava vs Beşiktaş at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Wolfsburg vs Oleksandria at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Sporting Braga at 15:00 ET/19:00 GMT

Team news/injuries

CFR Cluj vs Lazio

Injured: Luiz Felipe, Jordan Lukaku (Lazio)

Suspended: Marusic

Frankfurt vs Arsenal

Injured: Marco Russ (Frankfurt); Lacazette, Tierney, Bellerin, Mavropanos (Arsenal)

PSV vs Sporting CP

Injured: Sam Lammers, Gaston Pereiro, Yanick van Osch (PSV);Jovane Cabral, Stefan Ristovski, Rodrigo Battaglia (Sporting)

Qarabag vs Sevilla

Injured: Ozobic (Qarabag); Nolito (Sevilla)

Suspended: Ocampos (Sevilla)

Man UTD vs Astana

Injuries: Luke Shaw, Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Daniel James 9Man Utd0

Doubts: Jesse Lingard, Diogo Dalot (Man Utd)

Porto vs Young Boys

Injured: Sergio Oliveira (Porto); Mohamed Ali Camara, Sandro Lauper, Miralem Sulejmani, Christopher Martins Pereira, Marvin Spielmann (Young Boys)

Doubt: Guillaume Hoarau

Roma vs Başakşehir

Injured: Davide Zappacosta, Diego Perotti, Cengiz Under (Roma)

Unavailable: Arda Turan (Başakşehir)

Wolves vs Braga

Injured: Murilo Souza, Raul Silva, Vitor Tormena, Tiago Sa, Wilson Eduardo (Braga)

Doubt: Wallace (Braga)

Key stats

Frankfurt are unbeaten in five matches against visitors from England, but they have won only two of those fixture (D3).
Arsenal’s away record in this competition is W9 D1 L4, conceding 12 but scoring 25.
This is the first-ever meeting between PSV and Sporting CP.
PSV haven’t fared well against Portuguese oppositions, losing four and winning only three of their 13 clashes with clubs from the Primeira Liga (D6).
Porto will take on Young Boys for the very first time on Thursday having never lost a home game to a Swiss side before in four previous match-ups (W3, D1).
Man United have lost four of their last six home games in the Champions League but in the Europa League alone, the Red Devils are unbeaten at Old Trafford.
Wolves will be making a seventh UEFA encounter with a club from Portugal in their clash with Braga, having recorded wins in five of the previous six.
Roma have hosted clubs from Turkey on four previous occasions, winning three and drawing the other, thus earning an unbeaten home record.

Key talking point ahead of Matchday 1

Will Arsenal suffer another embarrassment?

Throwing away a 2-0 lead against the bottom-placed club is always an embarrassment and this is exactly what Arsenal did in their clash with Watford. A first-half brace from Aubameyang was canceled out in the second half due to a shambolic performance from the midfield and defense.

Emery garnered heavy criticism after that collapse, with the Gunners making yet another costly defensive error courtesy of Sokratis before David Luiz gave away a second penalty in three games. The Greek center-back has been left out of the squad, alongside Ozil, which has raised some eyebrows. A result is needed, or pressure will continue to pile up on the Spanish manager.

Sokratis and Ozil left out of Arsenal squad after collapse against Watford. Rob Holding back after 9 months. Gunners will face rocking stadium in Frankfurt. Live 5.55ko on BT Sport.
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) September 18, 2019