The Stat That Shows Arsenal Face an Uphill Battle to Keep Europa League Hopes Alive

Arsenal have it all to do in north London next week following their 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their Europa League knockout stage match against BATE Borisov.

A goal from midfielder Stanislaw Drahun pegged Unai Emery's side back just before half time, while Alexandre Lacazette's late red card added insult to injury for the travelling Gooners.

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Emery was confident in his post-match press conference that his side could turn things around next week, but history shows that things might not be so straightforward for the Premier League giants.

Stats released by Opta show that Arsenal have been knocked out of their last six European knockout ties when losing the first leg. The last time they overturned a result was during the Champions League against Porto during the 2009/10 season.

Even though history is against them, fans still appear to be confident that they can get the better of BATE Borisov when they return for the second leg next week.

Thursday's result was the first ever win for the Belarusian side against Arsenal in European competitions, having not played a competitive match in two months.

The Gunners secured a 10-2 aggregate win against BATE Borisov when they met two years ago in the Europa League, fixtures which saw former striker Olivier Giroud score his 100th goal for the club and defender Rob Holding notch his first.

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Arsenal have a long break before the return leg due to their exit from the FA Cup, but Emery will ensure that his players don't slack off as they look to avoid the most embarrassing week of his short career in north London.