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GOAL! Slavia Prague 0-1 Arsenal (Saka penalty 31′)
Bukayo Saka steps up and strokes the ball beyond Markovic, who goes the right way but can’t keep it out. A welcome breakthrough for Arsenal after a tough opening half-hour.
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VAR penalty review: The referee is now being asked to check a potential handball from Lukas Provod – and replays show the Slavia captain had his hand raised above his shoulder, and the ball flicked onto it. This is going to be a penalty.
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28 mins: The referee addresses some pre-corner jostling before Saka’s ball in, which so nearly finds Gabriel’s head. It flicks off Provod instead, for another corner.
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27 mins: Nwaneri tees up Saka, who cuts on to his left foot and tries to sneak a shot inside the near post. Markovic does well to get down and tip the ball behind.
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25 mins: The next corner is swirled towards the back post, and eventually headed acrobatically behind by Chaloupek.
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24 mins: Saka is starting to make an impact, and sees a near-post shot deflected behind. Rice’s corner is whipped towards Trossard, with Markovic juggling it behind.
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22 mins: The banner reads ‘133 LET’ – it’s to mark the club’s 133rd anniversary, it seems. Nwaneri is the first player booked for bringing Sanyang down; he may not be the last.
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20 mins: The home fans, very loud ever since kick-off, unfurl a giant tifo behind Markovic’s goal. Big fan of such casual banner work, like playing your biggest hit halfway through a festival set.
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19 mins: Saka gets into space with Timber on the overlap, uses him by not using him, and fires a decent shot on goal that Markovic gets down to paw away from danger.
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17 mins: There’s a break in play while Gabriel gets treatment from the latest agricultural challenge delivered by a Slavia player.
Gabriel gets treatment after some roughhousing from Slavia. Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 19.08 CET
15 mins: It doesn’t really come to anything, with Slavia sharper to react in the 50-50 challenges and seize on loose balls so far.
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13 mins: Mbodji is penalised for a clumsy foul on Merino, presenting Arsenal with a free kick some 35 yards from goal.
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11 mins: Some technical difficulties on the TV feed mean that Sam Matterface’s commentary is echoing in the mobile phone style. Arsenal dealt with a couple of throw-ins and are now trying to play their way around the hosts’ aggressive pressing.
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10 mins: Moses wins the ball and plays it down the right flank for Sanyang, who is dealt with by Hincapie at the expense of a throw-in.
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8 mins: David Moses is penalised for pressing a little too keenly, allowing Arsenal a chance to regroup. The hosts are certainly applying some early pressure.
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7 mins: After a spot of head tennis in midfield, Mbodji has a go from 30-odd yards, which flies wide of David Raya’s goal.
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4 mins: Another opening for the hosts, with Sanyang’s shot blocked and Raya springing to his left to palm away Chory’s effort on the rebound … but the Slavia striker was offside anyway.
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2 mins: The ball ricochets out to Gabriel, on the edge of the area, whose strike from an awkward angle flies just over the bar. Slavia Prague then break upfield, and Provod sends a low shot wide of the far post. A lively start …
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Peep!
We’re under way, and Arsenal have an early chance to heave a throw-in into the box …
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Updated at 18.48 CET
Slavia Prague have gone five games without conceding – three in the Czech league, one in the Cup and a goalless draw at Atalanta in the Champions League. Something has to give tonight – or not, as the case may be.
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Mikel Arteta: “[Slavia] usually press high, man-to-man, so we’ll need different attributes. Very intense and direct, they’ll make it uncomfortable [Merino] is learning the position, he scored goals last season … we need people to adapt with the injuries we have. Ethan [Nwaneri] deserves a start, he is getting better and better.”
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A vision of football’s future, from David Squires.
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No Viktor Gyökeres tonight for Arsenal – the striker suffered a muscle injury in the win over Burnley, so Mikel Merino will reprise his role as a stand-in centre-forward. There are three further changes from Saturday’s line-up, with Piero Hincapie in for Riccardo Calafiori at left-back. Christian Nørgaard and Ethan Nwaneri replace Eberechi Eze and the suspended Martín Zubimendi in midfield.
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Team news
Slavia Prague (3-4-3): Markovic; Vlcek, Chaloupek, Zima; Moses, Zafeiris, Sadilek, Mbodji; Provod, Chory, Sanyang.
Subs: Stanek, Rezek, Saracevic, Hashioka, Kusej, Chytil, Boril, Doudera, Toula, Prekop, Jelinek, Kolisek.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Norgaard, Rice, Nwaneri; Saka, Merino, Trossard.
Subs: Setford, Mosquera, White, Eze, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Harriman-Annous, Rojas, Sagoe Junior.
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Updated at 18.14 CET
Preamble
Since losing at Anfield on the last day of August, Arsenal have won 10 out of 11 games in all competitions. They’ve won their last eight matches on the bounce, and their last seven wins have come without conceding a single goal. The last time they achieved eight clean sheets in a row, in 1903, Arsenal were a second-tier side based in Woolwich.
Standing in the way of history tonight are Slavia Prague, who sit 28th on the big Champions League ladder with two points and two goals in three games; their visitors are in third place with three wins from three (and no goals conceded, naturally). The Czech champions are also pretty solid defensively, conceding eight goals in 14 games during an unbeaten start to their league campaign.
Look, I’ve been in the live blogging game for a few years now, and I can’t recall many conclusions as foregone as this one: Arsenal are surely destined to win this game two- or three-nil, rarely venturing out of second gear before a tougher run of fixtures – Sunderland (A), Spurs (H), Bayern (H) and Chelsea (A) – further tests their resolve.
Still, this is football and you can never be certain. Any given Tuesday (early) evening, and all of that. Kick-off at the Eden Arena is at 5.45pm GMT; team news to follow.
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