English rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are aiming to build on winning starts in the Europa League on Thursday while Zlatan Ibrahimovic will look to transfer his incredible Serie A form to the continental stage.
Smarting from a 1-0 loss at home to Leicester at the weekend, the Gunners host Irish side Dundalk in their second Group B fixture following a come-from-behind victory in Austria in their opening match.
Dundalk are just the third Irish representative to reach the group stage, having matched their achievement in 2016/17 and that of Shamrock Rovers in 2011/12.
They lost 2-1 at home to Norwegians Molde in their first game, and their Italian coach Filippo Giovagnoli is acutely aware the odds are stacked against the club from County Louth on Ireland’s east coast.
“Arsenal have better players, better coaches and better everything than us, but this is the challenge. We need to play with a lot of heart, run a lot and be a little crazy and brave, but we’re going to try,” said Giovagnoli.