Arsenal begin their fifth Europa League campaign in the last six years when they take on Swiss champions FC Zurich on Thursday evening.

Manager Mikel Arteta could rest some of his regulars in this clash however, getting out of the blocks quickly in Group A will be his priority.

This match offers the Gunners a chance to get back on track after Manchester United ended their perfect start to the season on Sunday. 

While Arsenal remain proudly at the Premier League summit, Zurich are well off the pace in the Swiss Super League. 

Speculation is already mounting over coach Franco Foda's position and there was frustration in the stands during last weekend's 2-1 defeat against Lugano. 

His team will need to overcome Arteta's tactical hurdles or else Foda could be for the high jump. 

Team news

Former Rangers defender Nikola Katic could make his debut for the hosts after the new signing was left out of the Lugano game. 

He would slot into a three-man defence alongside Mirlind Kryeziu and Becir Omeragic with Karol Mets, who was substituted at half-time on Saturday, the favorite to drop out. 

Defender Ilan Sauter, attacking midfielder Antonio Marchesano and striker Bogdan Viunnyk all missed the Lugano game through injury. 

The Gunners are set to make a handful of changes to their line-up with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard among the most likely starters from the 3-1 loss at United to make way. 

Kieran Tierney and Fabio Vieira look set to start in Switzerland, but Emile Smith Rowe is a doubt after pulling up during the Old Trafford warm-down on Sunday. 

Gabriel Martinelli would therefore stay in the team on the left-hand side with Arteta to decide if Bukayo Saka needs a rest, in which case Marquinhos would probably come in on the right. 

Midfielders Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny remain out for now, although the Ghanaian is closing in on a first-team return, so Albert Sambi Lokonga and Granit Xhaka are expected to continue in midfield. 

Matt Smith will hope to make his Arsenal debut at some stage after being named on the bench for the seventh time in the Gunners' recent 2-1 win over Aston Villa. 

The stats

The Gunners have a good record in the Europa League, making it to the semi-finals three times and reaching the final in 2019 only to lose 4-1 to Chelsea in Baku. 

Eddie Nketiah has scored on his last two Europa League starts for Arsenal — against Rapid Vienna and Dundalk in December 2020. 

The last clean sheet Arsenal achieved without Partey in the line-up was against Burnley in January 2022, 23 games ago. 

Saka has scored 18 goals and grabbed 17 assists in the Premier League since breaking into the Arsenal first-team in 2019, with only Cesc Fabregas recording more top-flight goal involvements (52) for the Gunners before turning 21 years old. 

With only two points from their first seven games, Zurich have made their worst-ever start in the history of the Swiss Super League. 

In the 2015-16 campaign, when the club sacked then-coach Urs Meier after just three games, they had collected five points by the same stage of the season. 

Prediction

This game has come at a good time for Arsenal as Zurich are in a mess after suffering four defeats in their last five Super League games. 

Foda has been given public backing by his bosses but reports that the coach has not made many friends since being drafted in this summer have fuelled speculation that the Swiss champions could be led by someone else soon. 

The Gunners should capitalise on any crisis of confidence in the Zurich camp to run out comfortable winners. 

Arteta's team ought to be able to ease off the gas once they establish a two-goal lead and kill the game off.