Arsenal kickoff delayed by an hour

Kickoff in the Europa League game between Arsenal and FC Koln tonight has been delayed by an hour due to crowd safety concerns.

The Gunners' first foray in the competition in 17 years had been due to get underway at 8.05pm but will now begin at 9.05pm following reports of altercations between both sets of fans.

Around 20,000 fans of the Bundesliga side are thought to have travelled to London for the match, despite the away allocation for the game being set at 2,900.

Earlier today an army of Koln fans brought London's iconic Oxford Street to a standstill as they marched through central London, with traffic being stopped for around 30 minutes.

Koln are playing in Europe for the first time in 20 years after their impressive fifth-place finish in the Bundesliga last term.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has made nine changes for the encounter but still names a strong lineup, with Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott all turning out against Peter Stoger's visitors.

Follow all of the action from the Emirates as it unfolds tonight with Sports Mole's live text commentary here.