Arsenal target hat-trick triumph

Arsenal FC have enjoyed a storming start to the Premier League season and that form has carried into their UEFA Champions League campaign with two wins in as many games. Now they will hope to take an ever firmer grip on Group H as they welcome SK Slavia Praha to the Arsenal Stadium.

• On Matchday 1 Arsène Wenger's side comfortably dispatched Sevilla FC 3-0 with Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Eduardo da Silva on target, and then won away to FC Steaua Bucureşti through Van Persie's 76th-minute goal.

• Facing opponents from the Czech Republic has not been an impediment to the English side making progress in the past and they have already won home and away against Slavia's rivals AC Sparta Praha this season. It came in the third qualifying round, when two late goals in Prague set the London club up nicely for the return which they won 3-0.

• They faced the same team in the 2000/01 and 2005/06 group stages and, once again, enjoyed wins in every fixture. In the first matchup Arsenal followed a 1-0 away victory by winning 4-2 at home. The scorer of Sparta's second goal was Tomáš Rosický, who is now starring in Arsenal colours and who scored in the 3-0 second-leg victory against his former club mentioned above.

• Five years later Thierry Henry's two goals in Prague secured another convincing group success for his team while taking him to a famous landmark, setting a club record of 186 goals in all competitions, beating Ian Wright's total in his 303rd game. The home fixture went in the London club's favour 3-0 with Henry back on target and Van Persie notching two late on.

• Slavia's debut season on Europe's grandest stage got off to a great start when they secured a 2-1 home win over Steaua with Zdeněk Šenkeřík and Tijani Belaid on the scoresheet. However they were then reminded of how tough the competition can be at this level with a 4-2 defeat in Spain against Sevilla FC. Daniel Pudil cancelled out Sevilla's early goal but the home team then proceeded to carve out a three-goal advantage before David Kalivoda scored in added time for the visitors.

• In the UEFA Cup Slavia have faced English opponents on four occasions and have managed just one victory. Last season they visited north London for a first round tie with Tottenham Hotspur FC and were defeated 1-0, the same score as when they lost the home leg two weeks before.

• In the 1999/00 quarter-final they recorded a 2-1 win over Leeds United AFC but as they had lost the away leg 3-0 it was not enough to remain in the competition.

• Slavia midfielder Vladimír Šmicer is no stranger to English football either, having spent six seasons at Liverpool FC. On target in their 2005 UEFA Champions League final triumph, Šmicer had made his last Premier League appearance for the club 17 days earlier as the Reds lost 3-1 at Arsenal, with Fabregas among the scorers.