Key events
12 min: Sangara wins the ball again, looping it forward to the lively Simons. He tries to play Gakpo in behind the Arsenal defence with a nudge on the ball from his head but the winger is unable to control the ball on the edge of the penalty area and fails to get a shot off.
8 min: Simons tries his luck with a low shot from distance after Martin Odegaard had lost position in midfield to Ibrahim Sangare, who immediately played it forward. Ramsdale gets down to palm the ball out for a corner. Nothing comes from the set-piece.
7 min: A low ball through the middle for Simons to chase is over-hit and the 19-year-old gives up his pursuit. Ramsdale gathers. No chances for either side so far.
5 min: Arsenal advance and Favbio Vieira cuts in from the left wing to carry the ball along the edge of the PSV penalty area. PSV defend more than adequately and the threat from the visitors fizzles out.
4 min: PSV have started brightly, playing further up the pitch than they did last week at the Emirates. A cross comes in from the right but is overhit.
2 min: Aaron Ramsdale gets his first touch of the ball on the European stage, comfortably catching a delivery into his penalty area from Gakpo.
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal is go …
1 min: Xavi Simons gets the ball rolling for PSV, their players wearing red and white striped shirts, black shorts and white socks. The players of Arsenal are in black shirts, white shorts and black socks.
Not long now: The teams are out on the pitch, the Europa League anthem is blaring and all concerned are going through the last of the of the pre-match formalities. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away. Skippers Cody Gakpo and Martin Odegaard exchange pennants and handshakes …
A top stat from BT Sport’s Matt Smith: He reveals that it is three years to the day since Granit Xhaka cupped his ear and “conducted” Arsenal fans before removing his shirt and throwing it on the ground as they booed him off when he was substituted during a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. His has been quite the redemption story.
Mikel Arteta speaks: “Matt felt something in his groin last night so we decided to play Aaron,” says the Arsenal manager of his unexpected goalkeeper switcheroo in an interview with BT Sport. “You will see when the game starts, obviously,” he says with a grin upon being asked what role Eddie Nketiah will play. “We’re going to play the same way we always play, come here to win the game, to be dominant and don’t change the way we’ve been playing.”
Those teams: Mikel Arteta makes four changes to the side that defeated PSV in London last week, with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale coming in for his European debut in place of his usual, injured understudy Matt Turner, who has been lining up for his side in this season’s Europa League. Captain Martin Odegaard, winger Gabriel Martinelli and defender William Saliba are also in, with Gabriel, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus also making way.
PSV manager Ruud van Nistelrooy makes two changes from last week’s match. Anwar El Ghazi and Jarrad Branthwaite, who is on loan from Everton, both start.
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal line-ups
PSV Eindhoven: Benitez, Mwene, Ramalho, Branthwaite, Max, Veerman, Sangare, Gutierrez, Simons, El Ghazi, Gakpo.
Subs: Drommel, Waterman, Hoever, Teze, Obispo, Van Ginkel, De Jong, Madueke, Mauro Junior, Til, Bakayoko, Ledezma.
Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Holding, Saliba, Tierney, Lokonga, Xhaka, Odegaard, Vieira, Nketiah, Martinelli.
Subs: Hein, White, Partey, Gabriel, Saka, Jesus, Cedric, Nelson, Cirjan, Smith, Ibrahim.
Group A: PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal
The Philips Stadion is the venue for this evening’s Europa League clash between PSV and Arsenal, with the visitors already through to the knockout stages and needing just a point to seal their progress as group winners with a home game against FC Zurich to spare.
In the corresponding fixture at the EMirates last week, Arsenal won courtesy of the only goal of the game, scored by goal crazy midfielder Granit Xhaka, who followed up with another strike against Southampton at the weekend and is now looking for his third goal in three games.
While PSV can still win this group, albeit in a rather unlikely set of circumstances, they could guarantee themselves second place with a point this evening if the scoreline in Bodo/Glimt’s clash with Zurich goes their way. Kick off in Eindhoven is at 5.45pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
