Former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas has given his predictions for the Gunners in their upcoming Thursday Europa League clash against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava. The Scottish pundit doesn't evidently believes that Arsenal will struggle to keep a clean sheet against their opponents, but remains optimistic that the side will be able to pull off a narrow win.
Arsenal are tipped as the hot favourites to win the Europa League clash, while manager Unai Emery is expected to ring the changes, including a start for new goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Nicholas said: "I would expect Arsenalto be a bit like Chelsea; they will want to start the group well and with a win. "I imagine there will be a lot of changes with the likes of Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming in, so it will still be a strong enough team for me to expect Arsenal to win this. "The way Arsenal play they don't do clean sheets, so I am going to go for a 2-1 win and Mkhitaryan to score first."
Vorskla Poltava managed a third-placed finish in Ukraine's top flight last season, though this is their first time in the Europa League group stages since 2011. On the flip side, Arsenal managed to make it to the semi-final last year, disappointingly losing out to Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate.
The Gunners will be hoping Nicholas' comments ring true, as Unai Emery has already hailed the European competition the "most important” after the Champions League and it may well be their best chance at silverware in 2018/19.
Arsenal's clash kicks off at 8pm on Thursday at the Emirates Stadium.
