Arsenal Vs Standard Liege: 5 things we learned - Here come Freddie's youngsters

Arsenal Vs Standard Liege: 5 things we learned – Here come Freddie’s youngsters

LIEGE, BELGIUM - DECEMBER 12: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's second goal with teammate Alexandre Lacazette during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Standard Liege and Arsenal FC at Stade Maurice Dufrasne on December 12, 2019 in Liege, Belgium. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) /

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MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 10: FC Internazionale coach Antonio Conte looks on during the UEFA Champions League group F match between FC Internazionale and FC Barcelona at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on December 10, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images) /

4. Winning the group ideal

While the performance is perhaps the more pertinent aspect of Thursday night, the result is not completely meaningless. Arsenal may have essentially secured qualification into the knockout stages prior to their Liege trip, but it is important that they were able to win the group, even if if required some help along the way.

The Gunners draw coupled with Eintracht Frankfurt’s shock defeat to Vitoria SC meant that Freddie Ljungberg’s side would enter the Round of 32 draw as group winners. This means they are a seeded team and cannot draw another seeded team.

This is vital. The 12 group winners will all be seeded teams, as will Inter Milan, Ajax, Red Bull Salzburg and Benfica, the best four teams from the eight that enter the competition from the Champions League. This means that Arsenal will play a second-placed team from the Europa League group stages or one of Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympiakos or Club Brugge. All in all, this is a much kinder draw.