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Arsenal will be without Henrikh Mkhitaryan for their Europa League clash against Qarabag away from home.

The draw for this season's Group phase was made in August with last season's semi-finalists being drawn against the Azerbaijan outfit as well as Sporting Club and FC Vorskla.

On paper the Gunners should safely progress to the knockout stages with Sporting likely to be their biggest threat but they will have a couple of long trips to eastern Europe.

One of which includes a game in Baku.

However, it would appear that Unai Emery will have to make do without the player who scored the first goal of his reign as new Arsenal head coach.

According to Vivaro News , Mkhitaryan will be unavailable for the away game against Qarabag.

This is due to the fact that Azerbaijan have banned Armenians from entering the country over tensions between the bordering rivals.

It was the case for the attacking midfielder whilst at former club Borussia Dortmund in 2015 as security concerns led to the German club decided to leave him out of their squad for a Europa League game against Azerbaijani club Gabala.

Furthermore, with the final in Baku he could also miss that game should the Gunners make it that far.

Uefa issued a statement on the matter and it reads: “It is a standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visa for players in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa competition matches."

Mkhitaryan , who joined the Gunners in January, saved his best form for the Europa League during the second half of last season as he came up with important goals against Ostersunds and AC Milan.

Even with this expected absence Arsenal should have enough going forward to get a good result in Azerbaijan.

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