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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

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

3 mins: Poor play between Romero and Tuanzebe as the Man Utd goalkeeper passes the ball pas the defender and out for a deep throw in for Alkmaar. 

The ball comes in the middle of the pitch and Sugawara shoots on the half turn but Romero makes the save. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:05

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

6 mins: Andreas Pereira picks up a fortuitous ball in the middle of the pitch and runs it into the right side of the penalty area. Martial is up with him but he goes it alone and shoots forcing Bizot into a low save. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:07

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

9 mins: Ashley Young takes some liberties in trying to play the ball out of his own box. He turns away from de Wit but into the path of Idrissi who almost wins the ball off him before he can clear it. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:10

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

12 mins: Idrissi brings the ball into the box from the left wing. He gets past Young and shoots but hits it straight at Romero who saves it.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:14

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

15 mins: AZ have had a couple of decent attacks. Idrissi targeting Ashley Young on Man Utd's right hand side. United have lost their counter-attacking flair with both Rashford and James sitting this one out. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:17

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

18 mins: The first corner of the game goes to the visitors and is played short to Svensson. He puts the cross into the box but Young heads it out. Clasie collects it and has a shot from 45-yards out but it doesn't trouble Romero.

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:18

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

21 mins: AZ Alkmaar are the more confident team in possession. They're controlling the play of the ball and are asking United to do quite a bit of defending. They've certainly started the better of the two teams. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:22

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

24 mins: Garner fouls de Wit after losing the ball. Clasie tries to send the ball down the right wing but overhits his pass and the ball goes out for a goalkick.

A rare Man Utd attack sees Ashley Young whip the ball into the box only for Wuytens to clear it. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:25

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

27 mins: Young floats a ball into the box were Greenwood attempts a run in behind. Greenwood wins the header and heads it back to Mata who shoots first time, completely miscues the ball and spoons it wide of goal. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:28

Man Utd 0 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

30 mins: Claise gets put in the book after taking out Martial as he breaks forward. He takes one for the team but Man Utd have a free kick in a decent area. 

Pereira and Mata stand over the wall but Pereira takes the shot on and hits the wall. 

Michael Jones12 December 2019 20:32

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