ARSENAL must beat Standard Liege or risk facing a tough last-32 clash against Inter Milan, Ajax or Sevilla in the Europa League.
The Gunners go up against their Belgian opponents on Thursday knowing that victory will see them top their group.
Arsenal could be set for a tough draw should they fail to beat Standard Liege and top their Europa League groupCredit: PA:Press Association
Failure to do so will see Freddie Ljungberg’s men finish second.
But it is still mathematically possible for Standard to qualify should they beat Arsenal by five goals or more.
However, the Gunners hold all the cards ahead of the crunch clash.
But they will want to avoid finishing second in order to skip over a daunting clash in the next stage, just like Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Missing out on top means potentially playing feared Dutch outfit Ajax, who shockingly crashed out of the Champions League last night after defeat to Valencia, sending the Spaniards and Chelsea through to the last-16.
Despite losing two group games, they played exciting football and would have gone through had they held on to a 4-1 lead against the Blues at Stamford Bridge in October.
The Eredivisie champs boast world-class stars including Hakim Ziyech and Donny van de Beek.
Arsenal also run the risk of a nightmare draw against Inter in the next round.
TEAMS ARSENAL COULD FACE
- RB Salzburg
- Inter Milan
- Benfica
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Dinamo Zagreb
- Club Brugge
- Red Star Belgrade
- Sevilla
- Celtic
- Espanyol
- Apoel Nicosia
- Copenhagen
- Malmo
- Dinamo Kiev
- Basel
- Getafe
- Krasnodar
- Sporting Lisbon
- LASK
- PSV Eindhoven
- Cluj
- Lazio
- Rangers
- Porto
- Young Boys
- Ludogorets
- Ferencvaros
- Gent
- Wolfsburg
- Gladbach
- Roma
- Basaksehir
- Braga
- AZ Alkmaar
The Italians finished third in their group behind Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.
Antonio Conte’s side lead Juventus in Serie A by two points, and boast two ex-United players in Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.
Sevilla are another possibility, with the Spaniards winning the trophy five times since 2006 – including three consecutive years between 2014 and 2016 under ex-Arsenal boss Unai Emery.
From teams already playing in the Europa League, Roma can always provide a threat.
While the likes of Porto, Gladbach and Rangers could prove to be tricky fixtures.
However, two sides Arsenal will definitely avoid are Wolves and Man Utd, who both already qualified but are yet to guarantee first place.
Standard Liege vs Arsenal: Live stream, TV channel, kick-off time and betting odds for Europa League clash
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
