Standard relishing Arsenal acid test

Two injury-hit sides meet in Belgium on Wednesday when R. Standard de Liège make their group-stage debut against Arsenal FC. Standard coach László Bölöni hopes "youthful enthusiasm" will make up for the loss of Steven Defour and Wilfried Dalmat, a sentiment doubtless shared by his opposite number as Arsène Wenger prepares to hand either Vito Mannone or Wojciech Szczęsny a first UEFA Champions League start with No1 Manuel Almunia sidelined with a chest infection.

Quotes
László Bölöni, Standard coach
It is a great honour to meet Arsenal in the Champions League. Arsenal are Arsenal and they are just very good. Arsène Wenger is not only a great man in sporting terms but also a great person. I had not anticipated injuries to Defour and Dalmat but I have to deal with them. I still need a few hours to decide what team I will play, but the players' motivation will be over 100 per cent. These young players will be making their Champions League debuts, as every great player has done in the past, so maybe youthful enthusiasm can make up for our lack of experience. The most important thing is that my players have the absolute will and desire to play as a team. Anyone who only thinks about their individual game is stupid as we really need teamwork to have a chance against Arsenal.

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager
It's a big challenge for the young boys to come in for the Champions League with such big pressure, especially as they are away from home. You can see when you look at the stadium that it could be quite a heated atmosphere. We're happy to have Eduardo back with so many attacking players out – Arshavin, Walcott, Nasri and Van Persie. Everybody in sport is happy to see Rosický back because he's a fantastic footballer. I have 24 hours to decide if he can play, but he has a good chance to start. We have much more experience in the Champions League and that's an advantage, but I watched Standard last year against Liverpool and they played two outstanding games – Liverpool were quite lucky to go through.

Key stats
• Standard lost their first five competitive games against English opposition but have won two and drawn two of the last five.

• Arsenal have faced only one other side from Belgium in UEFA club competition, KFC Winterslag, in the 1981/82 UEFA Cup second round and went out on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

• Arsenal reached last season's UEFA Champions League semi-finals – the ninth successive campaign they have advanced from the initial group stage – bowing out to Manchester United FC 4-1 on aggregate after losing 1-0 away and 3-1 at home. It was the second successive season they had departed at the hands of Premier League rivals, Liverpool FC beating them in the previous year's quarter-finals.

• Twelve months ago the Gunners began with a 1-1 draw away to FC Dynamo Kyiv, ending a run of four successive Matchday 1 wins. They won 5-2 at Fenerbahçe SK but Arsenal's away form was generally below par, losing 2-0 against FC Porto, 1-0 at AS Roma in the first knockout round and then drawing 1-1 with Villarreal CF in the quarter-finals.

Team news
• Standard
Out: Steven Defour (foot), Wilfried Dalmat (ankle)
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: none

• Arsenal
Out: Manuel Almunia (chest infection), Robin van Persie (knee), Denilson (Back), Samir Nasri (broken leg), Theo Walcott (back strain), Łukasz Fabiański (knee), Johan Djourou (knee), Carlos Vela (ankle, foot), Andrei Arshavin (groin)
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: none

Weekend results
12/09/09 Standard 3-0 KV Mechelen
(Carcela-González 54 57, Mangala 68)

12/09/09 Manchester City FC 4-2 Arsenal
(Almunia 20og, Bellamy 74, Adebayor 80, Wright-Phillips 84; Van Persie 62, Rosický 88)

Did you know?
Standard's record defeat in Europe was against Arsenal, 7-0 in the second round of the 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup – featuring seven different scorers – which completed a 10-0 aggregate loss.