A band of Arsenal fans look to be having a great time. Anyone been to a more obscure away game? Not very often you get the chance to tick Borisov (a) off the list.

Nothing at all to report on the field yet.

Image source, Reuters

The home fans are making plenty of noise as Arsenal control the early possession.

Away we go!

Here they come! The sides emerge into a colourful Borisov Arena, the fans spelling out a message in blue and yellow.

This is the 122nd different team that Arsene Wenger has faced while in charge of Arsenal. That's an awful lot of technical areas, bottles of wine, wi-fi passwords...

BATE: Scherbitski, Rios, Gajduchik, Milunovic, Polyakov, Aleksandr Volodjko, Dragun, Gordeichuk, Ivanic, Stasevich, Rodionov. Subs: Veremko, Yablonskiy, Berezkin, Signevich, Tuominem, Baha, Maksim Volodjko.

Arsenal: Ospina, Nelson, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Elneny, Wilshere, Walcott, Giroud. Subs: Macey, Akpom, Da Silva, Dragomir, Gilmour, McGuane, Nketiah.

Referee: Daniel Stefanski (Poland)

Magnificent reference there from Arsene.

Arsenal

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told BT Sport: "Bate are well organised, they have beaten Bayern Munich before [in 2012]. It's a good test for us tonight. We want to see how we can cope with that."

Nick Clohessy: Arsenal starting with a 20 year old left wing-back, 17 year old right wing-back and an 18 year old at centre mid. #YoungBlood, external

Pep Guardiola playfully reminds Gary Lineker of his days as a ball boy at Barcelona while Lineker was a player and says "I cannot forgive" you for never giving me your shirt!

READ MORE: Lineker on meeting Man City boss for The Premier League Show

You can see the full interview with Pep on the Premier League show on BBC Two at 22:00 BST

What do we know about Bate then?Well, they have won the Belarusian league in each of the past 11 seasons, but are only third after 23 games of the current season.

They are only two points off top though.

The last visiting side to beat Bate in a Uefa game on Belarusian soil were Barcelona, 2-0 in the 2015-16 Uefa Champions League group stage.

German Bundesliga

Gone in 60 games.

Will Carlo Ancelotti be snapped up soon by one of European football's big guns? He's only won the league in Italy, England, France and Germany and the Champions League three times...

German Bundesliga

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No denying the big news of the day - Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked as manager of Bayern Munich.

Following Wednesday's 3-0 Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain, the club's board decided to dismiss the Italian, who replaced Pep Guardiola at the start of last season.

Ancelotti, 58, helped Bayern win the Bundesliga last term, but they only reached the last eight of the Champions League and the German Cup semi-finals.

Assistant boss Willy Sagnol will take temporary charge.

Bayern are third in the German table, three points behind Borussia Dortmund, with four wins, one draw and one defeat from their first six matches. They next play away to Hertha Berlin on Sunday (14:30 BST).

"The performance of our team since the start of the season did not meet the expectations we put to them," said Bayern's chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

It may have kicked off late, but Arsenal got the win against Cologne last time out which gives them the early advantage in Group H.

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Like a cross between Birmingham's Bullring and a large static home, Bate's Borisov arena is a bit different.

Arsenal are the first Premier League team to play at the ground which was only built in 2014.

Image source, Getty Images

As expected, Arsenal name a weakened side. There are nine changes from the side who beat West Brom 2-0 on Monday. Jack Wilshere makes his first European start since 2014.

David Ospina starts in goal, with youngesters Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson starting at full-back. Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott also come into the team.

Seven players are the same from the side who beat Cologne 3-1 in the group opener.

Image source, #bbcfootball

Bate Borisov XI: Scherbitski, Gaiduchik, Volodko, Ivanic, Rios, Milunovic, Rodionov, Dragun, Stasevich, Polyakov, Gordeichuk.

Arsenal

Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud are the headline acts of a reasonably strong Arsenal team that blends youth with experience. They make nine changes in all from the West Brom win.

There are 24 games in the Europa League tonight, spread out across two kick-off times and a continent. The two main ones we shall be focused on are:

Bate Borisov v Arsenal (18:00 BST)

Everton v Apollon Limassol (20:05 BST)

It's been quite a week for British clubs in Europe.

After wins for Manchester City, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Celtic, and a draw for Liverpool, can they go unbeaten?

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal are in Belarus, while Everton host Cypriot opposition. Another Thursday, another bout of Europa League...

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