Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is in a very difficult position on transfers as a result of the shock exit from the Europa League earlier this week.

Arteta and Arsenal had won the first leg at Olympiacos 1-0 courtesy the goal from Alexandre Lacazette before the Greek club stunned the Gunners 2-1 at the end of extra time in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition.

The early Europa League exit will definitely affect Arsenal financially according to The Sun.

Arsenal were paid around £40m for reaching the Europa League final in the last campaign but they will get just £15m for their last 32 appearance this season.

Despite the £40m financial outlay from the Europa League last season, Arsenal still suffered a £27m loss from the last financial year as revealed by the Gunners.

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Mikel Arteta has three major transfer targets namely RB Leipzig centre back Dayot Upamecano, Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah and Ghent attack David Jonathan. His pursuit of the aforementioned transfer targets could be affected as a result of the sudden Europa League exit especially if his team fails to finish in the top five of the Premier League.

Arsenal have to finish in the top five to secure Champions League football and boost finances as a result. It was normally the top four teams but that will increase to top five after second-placed Manchester City were slammed with a European ban for two seasons.

Manchester City’s European ban has opened a window of opportunity for the team that finishes this season in fifth position. For now, Arteta and Arsenal are just four points off the top five spot presently occupied by rivals Manchester United.

The Gunners are seven points off Chelsea who are the fourth-placed team on the Premier League table.

Manchester United and Arsenal will know their respective opponents in the Europa League round of 32 when the draw is held on Monday afternoon.

The two Premier League clubs are finding it hard to stay in the Champions League places via the league route and the Europa League gives them the opportunity to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition next season by winning the competition this season.

Manchester United finished as Group L winners after the 4-0 thrashing handed out to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in their final group game played in front of their home fans.

After a goalless affair in the first half, Manchester United took the game away from their opponents from the Dutch Eredivisie with four goals.

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Young Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood was the star of the show as he scored twice to lead the Red Devils to a convincing win.

Club skipper Ashley Young and Juan Manuel Mata scored the other goals for Manchester United.

Arsenal also finished as the top team in Group F after the 2-2 away draw at Standard Liege FC of Belgium with all the goals coming in the second half.

Arsenal came from two goals down for the draw courtesy the strikes from Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka.

Six Arsenal players will miss the trip to Standard Liege FC of Belgium in the Europa League after the club provided the injury update on the team on Wednesday.

The Gunners will be guests of Standard Liege on Thursday night as they attempt to seal qualification for the knockout stage of the Europa League.

Arsenal need to secure a point from the Matchday Six clash or at least avoid a four-goal defeat to the Belgians to book their place in the next stage of the competition.

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The Gunners will be without the likes of Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin and Nicholas Pepe.

Swiss international midfielder Xhaka sufferer concussion during the 3-1 away win over West Ham in their London Derby clash in the Premier League on Monday night and will sit out the Standard Liege game as well as the Premier League game at home to holders Manchester City on Sunday evening as part of concussion procedure.

Spanish international Dani Ceballos sustained a hamstring injury in the Europa League Matchday Four clash at Vitoria Guimares FC of Portugal at the start of last month and he’s not expected back in action until the end of this month.

Eintracht Frankfurt captain David Abraham will miss the Europa League title with Premier League giants Arsenal later this month after he was given a lengthy ban.

David Abraham has been suspended for seven weeks after his push on Freiburg manager Christian Streich during their German Bundesliga clash at the weekend.

The Eintracht Frankfurt Skipper shoved Freiburg manager Streich as he attempted to retrieve a ball for a throw-in with his team trailing hosts Freiburg 1-0 in added time.

The incident led to a massive brawl between the two sets of players and David Abraham was thereafter sent off.

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Apart from the seven-week ban given to him, the Eintracht Frankfurt captain was also fined to the tune of €25,000 (£21,410).

David Abraham will now miss the remaining German Bundesliga games this year as well as the last two group games in Group F of the Europa League.

David Abraham will miss the Europa League trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal on November 28 in what’s a Matchday Five clash before sitting out the Matchday Six game at home to Vitoria Guimares FC of Portugal.

Eintracht Frankfurt are in second place with six points and four points off leaders Arsenal ahead of their game.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has allayed fears over the injury sustained by Spanish international Dani Ceballos during the Europa League game with Vitoria Guimares.

Dani Ceballos is on loan at Arsenal from Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid.

The young Spanish midfielder joined the Gunners on loan during the summer.

He sustained a hamstring injury during the Vitoria Guimares game and had to be substituted in the second half.

French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi was his replacement as the Gunners settled for a 1-1 draw.

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In his post-match reaction after the game, Spanish tactician Unai Emery was asked about the injury to Dani Ceballos and he said that it was not a serious one.

Since his loan transfer to Arsenal, Dani Ceballos has scored one goal and also provided two assists in 15 appearances.

He scored his first goal for the Gunners during the 4-0 home win over Standard Liege FC of Belgium in the Europa League.

Dani Ceballos and Arsenal missed out on the chance to seal qualification for the knockout stage with the result.

A win would have secured a last 32 spot for the Gunners.

Oscar Duarte equalized for Vitoria Guimares in the final moments of the game to deny Arsenal the victory needed for qualification after Shkrodan Mustafi had given the visitors an 80th-minute lead.

Arsenal legend Martin Keown slammed one of the players for his performance during the Europa League meeting with Portuguese top-flight outfit Vitoria Guimares.

Both Arsenal and Vitoria Guimares met at the Emirates Stadium in a Matchday 3 clash on Thursday night and former Gunners defender Keown was highly critical of the performance produced by midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the game.

According to him, the Arsenal midfielder is wasting his talents and that his performance was very poor.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles started the Vitoria Guimares game and was then substituted at the halftime interval after a poor first half which saw the visitors take a 2-1 lead at the interval.

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Vitoria Guimares stunned the home team with an eighth-minute lead courtesy former Tottenham Hotspur player Marcus Edwards.

Arsenal levelled proceedings in the second quarter of the game through the in-form Gabriel Martinelli who has now scored five goals in six games since his transfer in the summer.

The Brazilian attacker joined Arsenal from Brazilian club Ituano for around six million pounds.

Arsenal trailed 2-1 until the final ten minutes of the game when substitute Nicholas Pepe scored two freekicks to turn the game around into a 3-2 victory for his team and also maintained the Gunners’ perfect start to the competition.

Europa League finalists Arsenal would be hoping to bounce back from the disappointing defeat to Premier League newcomers Sheffield United in their league meeting on Monday when they face Vitoria Guimares FC of Portugal in a Europa League clash billed for the Emirates Stadium later on Thursday.

Sheffield United striker and summer signing Lys Moussett scored the only goal of the game to condemn Arsenal to their second defeat of the season.

All the two losses have come in the Premier League and the latest defeat to the Blades has heaped pressure on manager Unai Emery who’s in the last year of his contract, though the club can offer him an additional year as stipulated in the deal he signed upon becoming the Arsenal manager last summer.

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Unai Emery was the replacement for legendary manager Arsene Wenger who left the club at the end of the penultimate season.

The Gunners have a perfect record in the Europa League this season ahead of the Vitoria Guimares clash at the Emirates Stadium after two wins from two games.

Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Emiliano Martinez; Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney; Joe Willock, Lucas Torreira, Dani Ceballos; Emile Smith-Rowe, Alexandre Lacazette and Gabriel Martinelli.

Premier League giants Manchester United are yet to win a game in over one month since their Europa League opener against Astana FC of Kazakhstan in September and they have the opportunity to make that right on their trip to Serbia to face Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League.

Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been criticized for the poor run of six games without a victory in all competitions.

Manchester United have played four Premier League matches, one Europa League game and one Carabao Cup match without victory.

They have the opportunity to prevent that run from extending to seven games in their Europa League clash with hosts Partizan Belgrade.

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Manchester United are coming into the Partizan Belgrade game on the back of a very good performance against rivals Liverpool in the Premier League.

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana prevented the Red Devils from putting an end to their winless run after his late equalizer.

He came on as a second-half substitute to find the back of the net in the closing stages of the game.

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