UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2017/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Östersund Arena - Ostersund Thursday 15 February 2018 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Östersunds FK Round of 32, First leg Arsenal FC Match background 2 Legend 4 1 Östersunds FK - Arsenal FC Thursday 15 February 2018 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit Östersund Arena, Ostersund Match background There is a touch of footballing romance in the air as European debutants Östersund, led by unsung English coach Graham Potter, entertain the Premier League aristocrats of Arsenal in the first leg of the round of 32. • The Swedish side have already played a dozen matches in their maiden European adventure, qualifying as the runners-up of Group J behind Athletic Club – and only on head-to-head records after both amassed 11 points. Arsenal, meanwhile, cruised through their first UEFA Europa League group stage, clinching top spot in Group H with a game to spare. Previous meetings • The two clubs have never met in European competition, and Östersund have yet to face opposition from England. • Arsenal have posted three wins and a draw in their four encounters with Swedish opponents. In each season that they have faced a team from Sweden, they have gone on to reach a European final – and lose it on penalties after a goalless draw. • The Gunners defeated IFK Göteborg 5-1 on aggregate in the 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals en route to losing the final on spot kicks to Valencia in Brussels. Twenty years later they were shoot-out sufferers once again against Galatasaray in Copenhagen in the final of the UEFA Cup, having beaten AIK home (3-1, with Fredrik Ljungberg among the Gunners' scorers) and away (3-2) in the UEFA Champions League first group stage. Form guide • Östersund are undefeated in their six European encounters at home, the five victories in that sequence all featuring clean sheets. Only Athletic have avoided defeat at the Östersund Arena, drawing 2-2 there on matchday three. • Östersund are the first Swedish club to qualify for the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League. Four others – AIK, Elfsborg, Helsingborg and Malmö – have competed in the group stage but made no further progress. Indeed, the three victories Östersund posted in this season's group stage matched the number managed by those four clubs put together. • Arsenal have prolonged their European campaign into the spring for the 19th successive year – all under Arsène Wenger. • The 1-0 defeat at Köln on matchday five ended Arsenal's four-match winning run away from home in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. They have lost just one of their last 11 matches across the two competitions (W8 D2), with that 2000 final classed as a draw. • First-time Swedish Cup winners in 2016/17, Östersund are enjoying an exceptional debut UEFA campaign, having eliminated Galatasaray, Fola Esch and PAOK during the qualifying phase and booked their passage to the round of 32 with a game to spare. • Arsenal are making their UEFA Europa League debut this season; their last European campaign outside the UEFA Champions League was the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup, which ended with that penalty shoot-out defeat in the final against Galatasaray. They defeated French club Nantes in that season's third round, or last 32, winning 3-0 at home and drawing 3-3 away. UEFA Europa League squad changes • Östersund In: Dino Islamovic, Noah Sonko Sundberg, Tesfaldet Tekie Out: Fouad Bachirou, Tim Björkström, Gabriel Somi • Arsenal In: Santi Cazorla, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Henrikh Mkhitaryan Out: Chuba Akpom, Krystian Bielik, Francis Coquelin, Mathieu Debuchy, Olivier Giroud, Marcus McGuane, Tafari Moore, Julio Pleguezuelo, Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, Alexis Sánchez, Ben Sheaf, Theo Walcott Links and trivia • Östersund coach Potter played for Birmingham, Wycombe, Stoke, Southampton, West Brom, Northampton, Reading, York, Boston, Shrewsbury and Macclesfield; he was also capped once by England Under-21s. • Four Östersund players – Douglas Bergqvist, Jamie Hopcutt, Samuel Mensah and Curtis Edwards – have made senior appearances at various levels of English football. • Östersund concluded their 2017 Swedish Allsvenskan campaign on 5 November. They finished fifth – the highest final placing in the club's history – 14 points behind champions Malmö. The 2018 Allsvenskan season starts on 1 April. • Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny played in both of France's matches against Sweden in the 2018 FIFA World Cup 2 Östersunds FK - Arsenal FC Thursday 15 February 2018 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit Östersund Arena, Ostersund qualifying campaign, winning 2-1 at home and losing 2-1 away. • Suspended for next match if booked: Curtis Edwards, Ronald Mukiibi (Östersund). The coaches • Englishman Graham Potter has steered Östersund from the Swedish fourth tier to the UEFA Europa League knockout phase – picking up the club's first ever major trophy, the Swedish Cup, en route – since taking the reins in 2011. He played for a number of clubs at various levels of England's Football League – chiefly as a full-back – as well as eight games in the 1996/97 Premier League for Southampton. • Arsène Wenger has been the Arsenal manager since 1996, leading the Gunners to three English titles, a record seven FA Cup wins and the 2006 UEFA Champions League final. A player of modest repute, he made his name as a coach with Nancy and Monaco in his native France before moving to Japan for a brief spell with Nagoya Grampus 8. He is the longest serving manager in the Premier League. 3 Östersunds FK - Arsenal FC Thursday 15 February 2018 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit Östersund Arena, Ostersund Legend Competitions Club competitions National team competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League EURO: UEFA European Football Championship ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup WC: FIFA World Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup UCUP: UEFA Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals SCUP: UEFA Super Cup U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship Competition stages Other abbreviations F: Final GS: Group stage (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties GS1: First group stage GS2: Second group stage No.: Number og: Own goal 3QR: Third qualifying round R1: First round ag: Match decided on away P: Penalty R2: Second round R3: Third round goals agg: Aggregate R4: Fourth round PR: Preliminary round Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition R16: round of 16 QR: Qualifying round Pts: Points D: Drawn R32: Round of 32 1QR: First qualifying round R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth 1st: first leg 2QR: Second qualifying Res.: Result ET: Extra Time round sg: Match decided by silver GA: Goals against 2nd: second leg FT: Final tournament goal t: Match decided by toss of a PO: Play-off ELITE: Elite round coin Rep: Replay 3rdPO: Third-place play-off GF: Goals for W: Won PO - FT: Play-off for Final GS-FT: Group stage – final gg: Match decided by golden Y: Booked Tournament tournament goal L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow Nat.: Nationality cards) N/A: Not applicable f: Match forfeited Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended QUAL: All UEFA qualifiers UEL: Current season total UEFA Europa League appearances from the group stage onwards prior to the current matchday UEL: Total appearances in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final only UEFA: All-time total appearances in UEFA club competition including qualifying Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com. 4.