Bodo/Glimt vs Arsenal LIVE: Europa League team news and line-ups as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard start

Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen spoke of what he’s expecting from Arsenal in the build up to this evening’s game and says this match will be one of the biggest matches his team have ever played.

“It is perhaps the biggest match we’ll play,” he said. “At least it is against the best opponent. Not necessarily because they have better individual players than Roma, but there is something about the professionalism and history of the club. All the games in Europe are fantastic for me.

“We will see how much you can learn in a week and get an answer to that tomorrow. What matters is that we dare to be the best version of ourselves. Then we’ll see if we learn along the way, and then at least I’ll be satisfied.”

Arsenal are unbeaten away to Norwegian teams in Europe with two wins and one draw. Most recently the defeated Molde 3-0 in the 2020/21 edition of the Europa League with goals from Nicolas Pepe, Reiss Nelson and Folarin Balogun.

The Gunners have won six of their seven previous encounters against Norwegian opponents, with their only failure to record a victory coming in a 1-1 Champions League group stage draw against Rosenborg in September 2004.

If Eddie Nketiah scores tonight for Arsenal he will become the first Englishman to score in five starts in a row in the Europa League.

Arsenal have lost just one of their last 14 away games in the Europa League with 10 wins and three draws during that run.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has backed Ben White to force himself into England’s World Cup squad.

The defender was a surprise omission from Gareth Southgate’s 28-man group for the Nations League games with Italy and Germany last month after a strong start to the new campaign.

It was a blow to the 24-year-old’s hopes of being selected for the winter tournament in Qatar but his cause was inadvertently helped this week when Kyle Walker sustained a groin injury which required surgery.

Walker’s versatility has been referenced as crucial by Southgate, who has used the Manchester City player both as a right-sided centre-back and full-back.

White has been a regular for Arsenal at right-back this season and his club manager feels his adaptability could aid his hopes of forcing his way into the Three Lions set-up again.

Bodo/Glimt have won each of their last 14 matches in Uefa competition at home, scoring an impressive 42 goals and conceding just five in that time.

Mikel Arteta says that Arsenal are focused on winning this evening’s match and is determined to take things game-by-game as the Gunners look to continue their fantastic start to the season.

“What we think about is how we are going to win the game,” he said. “That’s it. How we win every three days, in different conditions, in different contexts, in different weather, in different competitions, and that’s the only way we are approaching it.

“A player can get injured on an artificial pitch, he can get injured in a training session.

“Obviously, we do what we have to do to protect the players as much as we can, but at the end of the day, for sure we are going to have 11 players on the pitch.”

You might call it flawed perfection, at least one side. Arsenal stay top of the league as well on a winning streak at home, but only after one of those games that was only enriched by error after error. Some might include the referee and Jurgen Klopp’s tactical decisions. What was beyond doubt was that Mikel Arteta’s side ultimately made far fewer mistakes than Liverpool – and generally looked a much better side – to fully deserve a rollocking 3-2 win. It means that Arsenal can continue to believe they will challenge for a title, with eight wins from nine and this – at least notionally – the biggest victory yet.

There’s just now the question over whether a win over Liverpool means the same, because Klopp has to face up to whether there is more wrong with this side than the formation or form. For Liverpool, far from flawed perfection, it’s a perfect storm of problems. Something feels broken, disconnected, and the most galling thing is the questions that will inevitably come over Klopp’s responses – whether he even knows how to respond.

His approach has served to completely neutralise their most potent attack in Mohamed Salah, who was then taken off in a decision that seemed inevitable rather than any way surprising. Behind him, Trent Alexander-Arnold had another poor defensive performance, albeit one accompanied by the explanation that he was actually injured. He also went off.

After losing in London in the reverse fixture last time out, Bodo/Glimt could lose consecutive games in a single season in major European competition for the first time since September 1996 in the Uefa Cup, both against Trabzonspor.