Arsenal's pursuit of European glory continues on Wednesday night when they visit Slavia Prague at the Fortuna Arena in the Champions League.
Aside from an embarrassing defeat at Fleetwood and an off-day against Brighton, the Gunners have started the new campaign spectacularly, winning 12 of their first 15 matches across all competitions. Mikel Arteta's men are on course for another fine season, although the Spaniard needs to carefully manage his squad over the coming months to ensure they don't burn out towards the end of the campaign, like they almost did last term.
Prague has been a happy stomping ground for Arsenal in recent times, and thus, their players will be delighted to return to the picturesque Czech city. They trounced Slavia 4-0 back in 2021 in the Europa League, before easing past them 3-0 last season in the League Phase of Europe's elite club competition.
The Czech giants will no doubt be looking to enact revenge on the Premier League champions , and thus, the game has the potential to get feisty, particularly in a hostile atmosphere inside the Fortuna Arena.
With that said, here's a look at UEFA's picks for the match officials for Slavia Prague vs Arsenal.
UEFA have announced that Tobias Stieler will be the referee in charge of Arsenal's match against Slavia Prague.
Steiler hasn't taken charge of an Arsenal game since December 2023, when the Gunners were held to a draw by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. A goal from Eddie Nketiah was cancelled out by a strike from Yorbe Vertessen.
Stieler has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2014, although he's largely been on the periphery of the official rotation for European competition, generally sticking to domestic action in the Bundesliga.
He tends to take charge of somewhere between two and five Champions League matches per season, and he therefore has a limited history dealing with Arsenal. Indeed, Stieler has only officiated two Arsenal games throughout his career.
In these games, he's handed the Gunners two yellow cards, no red cards and no penalties, with the North Londoners failing to emerge victorious in both of these encounters.
| Matches |
Arsenal Wins |
Arsenal Draws |
Arsenal Defeats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
As for Slavia, Stieler has a similarly limited portfolio of matches. He has officiated just three of the Czech side's games, giving them five yellow cards, one red card and no penalties in the process.
| Matches |
Slavia Prague Wins |
Slavia Prague Draws |
Slavia Prague Defeats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
Alongside Stieler as the referee will be his assistants, compatriots Lasse Koslowski, Jonas Weickenmeier and Harm Osmers, with the former two running the line and the latter the fourth official.
In the VAR room, Soren Storks will oversee the game, with another German, Johann Pfeifer, assisting him.
This article was originally published on www.paininthearsenal.com as Slavia Prague vs Arsenal: Who is the referee? Champions League match officials confirmed .
