The Gunners are in it for the long haul
ARSENAL go for an eighth straight win when they make their longestever journey to Azerbaijan to take on Qarabag in the second round of Europa League group stage matches today. The 4600km trip to Baku, almost matched by Sevilla’s journey to Krasnodar, is further complicated by reports that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not travelling with the team amid continuing tensions between his native Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The midfielder, who started Arsenal’s 4-2 Group E win over Vorskla in their tournament opener last month, also skipped a game for former club Borussia Dortmund at Azerbaijan’s Qabala in 2015.
“Safety and security of our players and staff is always a top priority,” an Arsenal spokesman said following the group stage draw.
Chelsea will look to make it 10 games unbeaten against Hungarians Vidi at Stamford Bridge.
Sevilla striker Andre Silva has admitted his start at the club has gone better than he could ever have expected as the Spanish five-time winners head to Russia.
“I never thought I would already have seven goals,” the club’s leading scoring said.
Daniel Carrico is the major absentee from the squad to face Krasnodar. Sevilla have only won once in eight games in Russia but make the trip off the back of four straight wins in which they have scored 17 goals.
Villarreal also go to Russia where they face Spartak Moscow having failed to win on any of their three games on Russian soil. Javier Calleja’s side have no new injury worries going into the match.
Real Betis coach Quique Setien, meanwhile, has been enthusing over how much his side have improved since last season when they got into the Europa League.
Ahead of today’s home game with Luxembourg’s Dudelange, Setien said: “We are infinitely better than last season. We have improved the whole level of the squad. We have new players who know exactly what we want from them.”
AC Milan look to strengthen their lead in Group F when they welcome Olympiacos. The Rossoneri have Gonzalo Higuain injured, which gives youngster Patrick Cutrone a chance to start up front.
Lazio, smarting from a domestic derby loss to Roma but buoyed by the much-hyped Sergej MilinkovicSavic signing an extended deal, travel to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Germans produced one of the performances of the round in the first week of group fixtures when they won 2-1 at Marseille, who now visit Apollon in Cyprus.