The desperate Cologne is the opponent of the already ranked Arsenal this Thursday, 23 November, in a match for the fifth round (penultimate) of the group stage of the Europa League edition 2017/2018. Scheduled to start at 16h (Brasília time) the duel takes place at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany.
The teams are in Group H, which has the English in the lead with ten points. They need one more point to secure the first place without needing other results. The second wave remains open. Before the ball rolls on Matchday five is in the hands of the Red Star, which has five points. However, Bate Borisov, with four, and the German team, which has three, still fight for the classification.

The recent performance of Cologne

The biggest drama of the Colony, however, is not even in the continental tournament. The team makes the worst campaign of its history in the German Championship 2017/2018. After 12 rounds, he did not get a win at all. He scored only two points. It occupies the eighteenth (last place).
Although there are 22 rounds to be played, the difference in comparison to Hamburg, fifteenth place and first outside the relegation zone, already reaches eight points. This means that the Colony will hardly be able to leave the region of the sticking before the end of year stoppage of the tournament which, due to the strong winter in the country, is only resumed at the end of January.
In this scenario, participation in the Europa League may end up being used to improve the players’ self-esteem in the attempt of a reaction that guarantees the permanence of the traditional club in the elite division of the national soccer.
After the Arsenal, the team will face the Red Star, Serbia, as a visitor. Thus, it still depends only on their results to achieve survival in the Europa League.
Austrian coach Peter Stoger, however, continues to face many injury problems. Defenders Jonas Hector (three matches in the 2017/2018 German Championship without a goal), Dominique Heintz (11 matches, one goal) and Nikolas Nartey (without performances) are in the ward; and Christian Clemens (one game, no goal), Marco Hoger (five games without a goal) and Marcel Risse (four games without a goal). They must undergo a new assessment before departure to see if they can act.

The current form of Arsenal

Even before securing the classification Arsenal was already placing teams entirely reserves in the competition. With the guaranteed spot certainly will not modify this strategy. Even because, depending on the results of the rivals, you can get the first place even without scoring. If the group champion season does not come this way, you still have a chance on the final journey when, at home, you will have Bate Borisov ahead.
On Saturday, November 18, the team retained the 100% advantage at Emirates Stadium by taking the best in the classic against Tottenham. He won 2-0 to 22 points (seven wins, one draw and four losses) in the English Premier League.
It is still outside the European Tournament classification zone. The scoring is the same as Liverpool, who closes this block in fifth place, but it takes disadvantage in the tiebreaker criteria. In the comparison with Manchester City, leader, is 12 points less.
French striker Olivier Giroud is unlikely to be released for Thursday’s game. He suffered an injury while serving his team in friendly matches for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and can not be related to the duel against Tottenham. It still needs to be reassessed, but the British press reports that it should not be approved.

History of the matches
Arsenal won their three games against the Colony. In the first round, at home, he emerged at a disadvantage on the scoreboard, but got the turn by scoring 3-1.

Needing to show reaction power and working at home against Arsenal’s reserves, the Colony appears as a good guess. Has a price of 2.62 on Bet365. Even the prize is destined for the success case of the English team. Draw shows a return of 3.25 for each real bet.