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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

Standard Liege 0 - 0 Arsenal

Second half: Avenatti comes on for Emond as Liege make a change at half time. Arsenal need to win this to avoid the better teams in the next round. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:57

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal - Bastien

47 mins: GOAL! Standard Liege switch the play out to Bastien. He brings it to the edge of the box on the right hand side and shoots. Martinez steps to his right to cover the line of the ball but it hits Sokratis and deflects past the goalkeepers left side and goes into the net.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 18:59

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal

51 mins: Standard Liege have an earned but unexpected lead. Arsenal need to change things, they need to up the tempo, control the ball and create chances. Can they do it?

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:03

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal

54 mins: Arsenal need to win this game in order to top the group yet they look as though they've been paralyzed by the goal. Standard Liege have grown in confidence. Mpoku runs with the ball at Arsenal's defence before playing it into the box. Carcela comes in to collect it and shoot but he's offside. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:07

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal

57 mins: David Luiz is starting to find a few good passes up to Smith-Rowe and Nelson but Arsenal's final ball is still lacking. Encouraging signs though for the Gunners.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:10

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal

60 mins: Arsenal are moving the ball around too slowly. Guendouzi picks Smith-Rowe out with a good pass forward but he takes too long to decide what to do with the ball and Arsenal are pressed enough that they have to retreat. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:12

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal

63 mins: Liege win a corner ball and play it short. Arsenal are able to defend it when the ball does eventually come in. Standard Liege win the ball back easily and Bastien goes on another good run into the box and wins another corner.

This time the ball is played into the near post and flicked on to Martinez's hands. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:15

Standard Liege 1 - 0 Arsenal

66 mins: Arsenal look like they're lacking creativity. Either that or their really not that bothered about the result of the game. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:19

Standard Liege 2 - 0 Arsenal - Amallah

69 mins: GOAL! Two down, three to go. Standard Liege do well to get the ball down the left wing and into the box. Willock doesn't clear the ball and Amallah picks it up. He shoots and the ball deflects off Mavropanos and into the net. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:20

Standard Liege 2 - 0 Arsenal

72 mins: Standard Liege need to win this game 5-0 if they are to overtake Arsenal in the group. Another goal for the home side and they'll probably do it. Arsenal look really shaky, the fans in the ground fully believe they can do it. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 19:23

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