Laurent Koscielny to miss Koln game

Arsenal vice-captain Laurent Koscielny will play no part in Thursday's Europa League clash against Koln due to a one-match European suspension.

The France international was given a straight red card in the Champions League outing against Bayern Munich last season, and his ban has been carried over for the Gunners' Europa League campaign, UEFA.com reveals.

Despite this, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is expected to heavily rotate his squad with the likes of Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi likely to get a run-out.

Alexis Sanchez is also due to feature following his second-half appearance against Bournemouth last weekend while young graduate Reiss Nelson could earn his first competitive appearance at right wing-back.

In the absence of Koscielny, Wenger could choose to go with one of Rob Holding or Per Mertesacker with the latter having not participated since the Community Shield win over Chelsea earlier last month.

Arsenal face a tough Premier League trip to west London to face Chelsea on Sunday, and Wenger will probably rest most of his regular starters due to the short turnaround time between the fixtures.