Arsenal were absolutely shocked tonight in UEFA Europa League action as they fell 1-0 at Bate Borisov, a tiny Belarusian club. Bate has just a tiny fraction of the resources that the London giants do, but here they are heading to London a week from tonight up 1-0 on aggregate in the round of 32 tie.

The misery is compounded by the fact that one of their primary weapons, striker Alexandre Lacazette, was sent off in the 85′ and will now miss the next leg due to his red card. Lacazette threw an elbow late, and the call was very cut and dry. He was well aware of his being in the wrong and issued an apology to fans via social media:

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Whatever the issue is between Arsenal manager Unai Emery and midfielder Mesut Ozil, it does not appear to be resolving itself. If anything, it seems to be only worsening as the highest paid player in club history was left out of the squad that will take on Bate Borisov tonight in the first leg of a round of 32 UEFA Europa League tie.

Ozil did not even travel with the team, and this season has seen him benched or even omitted from match day squads when healthy for reasons unspecified. Emery has been mostly evasive when asked about the German international’s omission, and on the occasions that he’s provided an answer, it has tended to keep evolving.

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Juventus Sporting Director Fabio Paratici has revealed the specific manner in which his club plans to position their new midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Two days ago, the Bianconeri announced that they had acquired Ramsey on a free transfer, with his move to take effect in the summer.

The Welshman’s new deal will see him earn more than £400,000-per-week, according to BBC Sport’s David Ornstein.If that salary seems high, well that’s because it is, and Juve have extra cash to splash given how they didn’t have a splurge on a transfer fee in this deal.

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In an ideal world, Arsenal FC manager Unai Emery would use tomorrow night’s UEFA Europa League clash at Bate Borisov as a chance to rotate his squad. However, given all the injuries he has to deal with, both in the short and long term, he may have to include a couple first team players here and there in his starting XI.

Also, the Europa League continues to look like the easier path into Champions League for next season, so it’s certainly a competition that could increase in priority down the stretch. There are numerous ways Emery could go in fielding his first team for the away leg of the round of 32 clash, but his options in the back are limited.

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Arsenal FC reconvene their European campaign in the UEFA Europa League, a competition where they have very favorable odds of winning it all. Out of the entire field of 32, only arch-rival Chelsea is being backed with better odds of claiming the trophy, and with it an automatic berth in next season’s Champions League.

The north London side has plenty of obstacles to overcome toward reaching that glory though. They have a growing list of short term injuries, to go along with their collection of long term absentees. Here’s where we stand heading into the Thursday night clash at Bate Borisov.

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The quite dramatic and very elongated Aaron Ramsey transfer saga is now officially over. The long time Arsenal man has completed his move to Juventus, joining the Serie A giants on a four deal, reportedly paying him £400,000 a week. That figure would make him the highest-salaried British footballer ever.

The official club statement says that: “Juventus will incur additional costs of € 3.7 million, to be paid within 10th July 2019.” On Monday, Aaron Ramsey released the following statement on social media:

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Arsenal FC visit Huddersfield Town on Saturday in a match-up of two teams desperately in need of a win. The Gunners have only emerged victorious in one of their last seven on the road, and that was at Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup. Blackpool reside in League One, the third tier of English football.

As for the Terriers, they might have to be resigned to being relegated as they’re now 13 points from safety, having lost 12 of their last 13. As you would expect, the Gunners are heavily favored in this one. Let’s take a look at the injury and fitness report for both sides, starting with the underdogs.

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