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As it happenedended

Standard Liege vs Arsenal LIVE result: Young Gunners fight back to knock out Standard and seal top spot

Follow all the action live from the Stade Maurice Dufrasne

Michael Jones
Thursday 12 December 2019 15:00 EST
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Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe in action against Liege
Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe in action against Liege (Reuters)

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Follow all the reaction live as Arsenal‘s youngsters beat Standard Liege in the Europa League.

Freddie Ljungberg’s side only needed to avoid defeat to guarantee their qualification for the knockout stages and came into the fixture riding a wave of momentum after the interim head coach secured the first win of his tenure against West Ham last weekend.

Konstantinos Mavropanos, Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe all started for the Gunners, who defeated the Belgian side 4-0 in the reverse fixture in October., as they drew 2-2 to finish top of the group. Follow all the reaction below:

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What time does it start?

Standard Liege vs Arsenal kicks off at 5.55pm on Thursday 12 December.

Can I stream it?

The game will be available to live stream via the BT Sport app on your laptop, smartphone or tablet. Subscribers will also be able to watch it on BT Sport 2. Coverage starts at 5.30pm.

Prediction

It looks like the Londoners may have stumbled upon a winning formula in the victory against West Ham, having lost their previous encounter against Brighton in an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat. There’s a lot of work to be done but on account of the attacking fluidity seen at the London Stadium on Monday night, there’s no reason to believe Arsenal can’t get the job done against Standard Liege. Confidence levels should be back on the up too. A tricky, hard-fought 90 minutes await, but I’m backing Arsenal to edge it.

Standard Liege 1-2 Arsenal

Odds

Standard Liege: 5/2

Draw: 14/5

Arsenal: 19/20

Ten minutes to go until kick off, Freddie Ljungberg has named a youngish team to take on Standard Liege, will they be good enough to get the victory?

Michael Jones12 December 2019 17:45

The two teams head out onto the pitch for the pre-matc ceremonies and handshakes. The pitch looks patchy in places and good cause a bit of discomfort.

Standard Liege vs Arsenal is next...

Michael Jones12 December 2019 17:53

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

Kick off: Standard get the game underway with a long ball forward to the right wing.They get the ball into the box and Mpoku collects the ball to the left of the penalty area. Guendouzi challenges him and takes a slight tap to the face. He goes down as though he's been hit by Anthony Joshua.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 17:57

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

3 mins: Was that an attempt? David Luiz goes for a cross field pass but mishits it so badly that the ball goes over the middle of the goal.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 17:58

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

6 mins: Smith-Rowe tries to weave his way into the box for Arsenal and is taken out. He wins a free kick on the edge of the box. 

Lacazette and David Luiz stand over the ball with Luiz leaving it for Lacazette. He shoots and hits the wall.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:02

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

9 mins: Mpoku does for Guendouzi on the left side of the box and draws the Arsenal midfielder into fouling him. 

Standard send the free kick into the box but Nelson heads the ball away. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:03

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

12 mins: A long ball forward for the home side isn't dealt with by David Luiz who heads the ball to Carcela. Carcela shoots and has his shot blocked. Mauropanos gets onto the ball and tries to clear it under pressure from Mpoku. His clearance is poor and the ball comes back to Carcela. He goes for goal again and softly hits it at Martinez. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:08

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

15 mins: Guendouzi gets the ball up to Lacazette who turns with it and plays the ball to Smith-Rowe. He runs into the right side of the box and shoots, Bodart sticks out a leg and deflects the ball out for a corner.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:10

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

18 mins: Willock plays the ball into the box for Arsenal. Saka collects the ball and wins a corner. Arsenal send the ball into the box and it is cleared by Standard Liege. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:13

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

21 mins: Arsenal haven't kept a clean sheet in 12 games and their defence looks ropey again tonight. Mpoku weaves with the ball as Arsenal dive into the tackles. He gets it out ot Emond, forward on the overlap, who squares it into the box. Laifis is the target but Mauropanos eventually boots the ball away.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:16

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