Arsenal vs Vitoria: Team news, predictions & head to head

Arsenal are looking to bounce back on Thursday night as they host Vitoria de Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners fell to a shock 1-0 Premier League defeat at Sheffield United on Monday night at Bramall Lane but Gunners have six points out of a possible six after emphatic 3-0 and 4-0 wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Standard Liège respectively, meaning they sit top of Group F heading into the fixture.

Vitória Guimarães are currently rock bottom of Group F after losing their opening two games as the Portuguese side lost 2-0 away to Standard Liège on matchday one before being beaten 1-0 at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques by Eintracht Frankfurt in early October.

Team News

Following Alexandre Lacazette's return from injury after sustaining an ankle injury in the north London derby in September, Unia Emery practically has a full squad to choose from.

Reiss Nelson is the only absentee as the 19-year-old remains sidelined until November after the England Under-21 international injured his knee ligaments against Standard Liège, while Kerian Tierney, Dani Ceballos, Rob Holding and Lucas Torreira are among those likely to be afforded starting places against Vitoria.

Vitória manager Ivo Vieira has a few injury concerns of his own as Vimaranense remain without Valeriy Bondarenko after the Ukrainian underwent surgery last Saturday for a broken hand but Lucas Evangelista (thigh) is sidelined and goalkeeper Miguel Silva has only just returned to conditioned training and is therefore doubtful for Thursday's fixture.

Head to Head

Thursday's match is the first between Arsenal and Vitoria de Guimaraes.

The Gunners have a strong recent record against Portuguese opposition, beating the likes of Porto and Braga in Champions League and Europa League games.

Vitoria, meanwhile, have won just one of their previous seven matches against English teams in European competition and that came against Aston Villa in 1983.

Recent Form

Both Arsenal and Vitória hold similar positions in their respective leagues, Arsenal currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League, while Vitória occupies the fourth spot in the Primeira Liga table behind usual suspects FC Porto and Benfica, with newly-promoted FC Famalicāo top of the table.

However, the pairs European form differ irrefutably with Arsenal topping Group F with six points, meanwhile, the Portuguese outfit languishes at the bottom with no points and no goals scored thus far.

Possible lineups

Arsenal (4-3-3): Martinez; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Tierney; Ceballos, Torreira, Willock; Maitland-Niles, Martinelli, Smith Rowe.

Vitoria SC (4-3-3): Silva; Sacko, Tapsoba, Henrique, Hanin; Poha, Agu, Evangelista; Edwards, Bonatini, Davidson.

Prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Vitória SC