Emery to rest key players

– Unai Emery’s Arsenal are looking to keep up their winning run when they make their longest journey to date for a competitive game to face Qarabag in Azerbaijan in the Europa League today.

The Gunners have recovered from losing the opening two games under their new Spanish coach and Saturday’s 2-0 win over Watford in the Premier League was their seventh on the bounce.

An eighth win would represent Arsenal’s best run since the spring of 2015 and would leave them in a strong position to qualify from Group E after beginning their European campaign by beating Vorskla of Ukraine 4-2.

Emery (above) is likely to rest leading players for the 4 000km trip to Baku’s Olympic Stadium, which will host the final next May.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech is out for up to a month with a hamstring injury, while playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan may not play, given the long-standing political tensions between Azerbaijan and his native Armenia.

Chelsea host Hungarian champions Vidi, who dropped into this competition after losing to AEK Athens in the Champions League play-offs. Maurizio Sarri’s team won their Group L opener, beating PAOK in Greece with a solitary Willian goal.

Scottish champions Celtic have had a poor start to the season, although Brendan Rodgers’ team did beat Rosenborg 1-0 in their Europa League group-stage opener. The Hoops are traditionally poor in Europe – excluding qualifying rounds they have won just twice away from home this decade.

That means they are likely to find life tough against Austrian champions Salzburg. –

Paris