Arsenal kick-start their Champions League campaign with a clash against Spanish side Athletic Club at the Estadio San Mames in Bilbao on Tuesday evening.
The Gunners are fresh off a comprehensive 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last time out.
They have won three of their opening four matches, scoring nine goals and keeping three clean sheets.
After exiting the Champions League in the semi-final against eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain last season, Mikel Arteta will be keen on improving this campaign and leading the Gunners to their first CL silverware in their history.
They finished third in the league phase last season with 19 points in eight matches, winning six games and conceding just three goals.
Ernesto Valverde’s Bilbao have started their La Liga campaign well, winning their first three games before falling to a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Alaves at the weekend, and they currently sit fourth on the La Liga table.
**Match preview**
This will be the first-ever competitive meeting between the two clubs in Europe.
However, both sides faced each other in the Emirates Cup final during pre-season, and Arsenal came out on top with a 3-0 victory.
Athletic suffered defeat at the hands of Manchester United in last season’s Europa League semi-finals but have returned to the Champions League for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign and will hope to impress on their return.
The Spanish outfit have a strong record at San Mames in European competition, losing just two of their last 10 home games against English clubs.
Arteta’s men have won all five of their meetings with Spanish clubs over the past two seasons, including doing the double over Real Madrid last season.
**Team news**
**Athletic Club**
Nico Williams is set to miss the game with an adductor issue he sustained in Spain’s 6-0 win against Turkey in World Cup qualifiers last week.
Benat Prados and Unai Egiluz are also out due to injuries. Yeray Alvarez is serving a 10-month UEFA ban for a failed doping test last season.
**Arsenal**
The Gunners’ captain, Martin Odegaard, suffered a shoulder injury against Forest and will miss this fixture.
William Saliba is back to training but could be rested; Christian Norgaard will hope to be in the squad after missing out last time out with a knock.
Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all remain out.
**Predicted line-ups**
**Athletic Club**: Unai Simón, Jesús Areso, Dani Vivian, Aitor Paredes, Yuri Berchiche, Íñigo Ruíz de Galarreta, Mikel Jauregizar, Iñaki Williams, Oihan Sancet, Alex Berenguer, Gorka Guruzeta.
**Arsenal**: David Raya, Jurriën Timber, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyökeres.
**Key players**
**Athletic Club**
**Unai Simón**: The Spanish goalkeeper will be crucial in this game for Bilbao in stopping Arsenal’s fierce attack.
**Iñaki Williams**: The Ghanaian striker will be important to causing the Gunners’ defence problem.
**Arsenal**
**Noni Madueke**: The winger was electric against Forest, and he has already created eight big chances for the Gunners this campaign.
**Viktor Gyökeres**: The prolific striker has scored three goals in the PL and will be important in attack for the North London side.