by Bulldog Drummond
PLEASE NOTE that since this article was written the match has been moved. There is a note in the comments and we’ll have more on this in the next article.
According to the almighty Uefa there is nothing to worry about. Martial law, temperatures of below minus 10 – these are of no consequence to Uefa officials sitting in Switzerland. Arsenal’s game away to Vorskla Poltava will go ahead because not to play it will interfere with the schedules.
The Russians have captured three Ukraine ships off the coast of Crimea, and have accused Ukraine of aggression. Ukraine has accused Russia of aggression. Martial law it is for 30 days.
And still 500 hardy Arsenal fans are making the journey. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued warnings to the supporters about doing anything that could inflame the situation, such as chanting. Whoever heard of any football supporter anywhere doing anything untoward?
As for the pitch there are reports of that being unplayable with the temperature dropping to as low as minus 13 Centigrade, although other reports say this is just wild speculation, and minus 12 is a much more reasonable estimation.
Quite a long way to watch a footie match. So maybe this is the occasion when Arsenal will put out more of the reserve team.
In the meanwhile we do have a few odds and ends about the opposition. They were founded in 1955, under the name Kolhospnyk, but then appear to have changed their name from time to time. Now changing club names is not that unusual, and as I am sure you will know Arsenal have also been Dial Square (although just for one match), Royal Arsenal, Woolwich Arsenal and The Arsenal, before becoming Arsenal.
But that set of changes takes us all the way from 1886 to the present day. The opposition on Thursday seem to go through name changes for the hell of it, including, (if I have read the history aright)…
- Kolhospnyk (1955-1964),
- Kolos (1965-67, and again 1973-82),
- Silbud (1968),
- Budivelnyk (1969-1972),
- Vorskla (1984 – 2003),
- Vorskla-naftogaz (2003 – 2005),
- Vorskla (2005 to the present day).
Their European exploits thus far include
- The Uefa Cup 1996/97 (second qualifying round); 1999/2000 (first qualifying round);
- The Intertoto Cup 1997/98, (third qualifying round).
Here is their current league position…
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oleksandria | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 12 |
| 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 |
| 3 | Dynamo Kyiv | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 9 |
| 4 | Chornomorets | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 |
| 5 | Zorya | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 |
| 6 | Olimpik Donetsk | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | +0 | 5 |
| 7 | Lviv | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 4 |
| 8 | Karpaty | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| 9 | Desna | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| 10 | Mariupol’ | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 3 |
| 11 | Vorskla | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 3 |
| 12 | Arsenal Kyiv | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 0 |
And here is the Europa group.
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 10 |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 |
| 3 | Vorskla | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 3 |
| 4 | Qarabağ | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 3 |
The players we could be looking at for this game include Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe who each look due a match.
Cech will presumably play in goal and the players who were also on the bench for Bournemouth could also be in the squad, which means Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Ramsey, Ozil, and Guendouzi.
Finally here are their most recent results
| Date | Comp | Home team | Score | Away team |
| 31/10/18 | CUP | Chornomorets | 1 – 2 | Vorskla |
| 04/11/18 | PRL | Lviv | 0 – 2 | Vorskla |
| 08/11/18 | UEL | Vorskla | 0 – 1 | Qarabağ |
| 11/11/18 | PRL | Vorskla | 0 – 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 24/11/18 | PRL | Mariupol’ | 1 – 0 | Vorskla |
| 29/11/18 | UEL | Vorskla | 17 : 55 | Arsenal |
In theory our unbeaten record should continue – but that of course is only the theory.
On the practical outlook side of things and not on the theoretical side of it, Arsenal are sure odds on bet to beat Vorskla Poltava and win the group despite the military aggression by Russia against Ukraine in seizing it’s 3 ships. This aggression should not constitute a hindrance to the Gunners to play the match as scheduled and the 500 away match Gooners contingent attending the match.
As regards to the 18 Gunners match day squad that Emery will go with to Ukraine to play the match, the general believes in the quarters of the Gooners are, he’s likely to make a wholesale rotation of his team that will play against Vorskla on Thursday night so as to keep his first teamers fresh and fit in full readiness to play the big game against Tottenham Hotspur in the PL at the Ems on Sunday. This is in order.
And of course no sooner have we published details about the game and where it is, than the officials move it somewhere else.
It is now going to be played in Kiev. I wonder if Uefa refund Arsenal fans the cost of the tickets to the wrong airport.
Of course they will!