Who are the Ukrainian team looking to cause an upset against Arsenal in UEL?

The Europa League gets under way on Thursday, with Unai Emery making his European debut as Arsenal manager.

First up for the Spaniard is a game against Ukrainian outfit Vorskla Poltava at the Emirates Stadium.

Ahead of the game - the first encounter between the two teams - Sportsmail profiles the little-know club.

History

Vorskla were founded in 1955 and can trace their roots back to  Soviet Russia.

In 1982, they became bankrupt, but  soon reformed, becoming Vorska Poltava in 1984. Vorskla quickly entered the ranks of the Soviet third division, where they remained until the collapse of the USSR.

Vorskla are yet to win the league, with last year’s performance seeing them finish third - their best finish to date.

Form

Vorskla currently find themselves fifth in their domestic league. This season has been a mixed bag for the Ukrainian side. Impressively, they have so far been victorious in every home match domestically, but what is less impressive is that they have been defeated in all but one of their away matches this season - a concerning trend for the team ahead of Thursday’s away fixture.

The team are, though, currently on a two-game winning streak. Their last two performances include a 2-1 win against Chornomorets Odesa, and then a 1-0 defeat against Karpaty Lviv. The latter included an impressive goal at the 83rd minute by Brazilian Nicolas Careca.

European Record

Thursday's match will mark the beginning of Vorskla's seventh European campaign, and their first against an English side. Since they have entered the group stages only twice in the tournament, they will surely be hoping that this return makes a more meaningful impact than their previous foray into European football. The 2011-12 competition did see the team collect two points, but this wasn't enough to stop them finishing a disappointing last place in their group.

The team’s last European victory was nearly a decade ago, with a 3-2 win against the Romanian team Dinamo Bucuresti in the 2011-12 tournament. Since then, their European record leaves much to be desired, after racking up three losses and two draws while at the same time failing to win a single game.

Top Talents

Vorskla are managed by former player Vasyl Sachko.

Much of the Ukrainian team is homegrown, and therefore will be unfamiliar to those following British football. However, Vorskla's ranks are bolstered by two Brazilians, Nicolas Careca, who is on loan from Gremio, and Artur Sergio Batista de Souza.

Arsenal's record against Ukrainian opposition

This is Vorskla's debut on British soil, but Arsenal have frequently played Ukrainian sides, facing Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev on 10 different occasions, winning four times, drawing twice, and losing four.

The Gunners' most recent clash with a Ukrainian team was in 2011, when then beat Shakhtar 5-1, which is in stark contrast to Vorskla  4-1 loss to the same team last month.

Arsenal will no doubt be confident after three consecutive wins, but must be wary of not repeating the shock result against Ostersunds FC from earlier this year.