Who could Arsenal face in the UEFA Europa League group stage? Draw seedings and permutations

Europa | Arsenal miss out on the Champions League for the first time in 21 years
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Alex Young @alexwsyoung25 August 2017

For the first time in two decades, Arsenal begin a European campaign in the second-tier competition as their Europa League tilt kicks off.

A disappointing 2016-17 domestic season saw them finish outside the top four and thus miss out on qualification to the Champions League, while English football boasts five representatives for the first time ever.

The Gunners hold, by a distance, the biggest European coefficient of any team in the Europa League with 105,192. Zenit Saint-Petersburg, who beat Utrecht in the play-off round, are second with 87,106.

Arsene Wenger's side are, however, not the favourites for the competition. That title goes to sleeping giants AC Milan who have splashed out almost €200million on new recruits over the summer and are expected to take the competition seriously.

So who can Arsenal face in the group stage? We have taken a look at the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Gunners...

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
BEST
Arsenal
Austria Vienna
Zulte Waregem
FC Lugano

In a Pot 2 littered with Champions League also-rans, a trip to Austria Viennia looks to be the easiest on offer over longer journeys to eastern Europe and Russia.

The same rationale goes for a Pot 3 opponent where perhaps easier opponents are based in the likes of Kazakhstan or Israel or Serbia, but Zulte Waregem a welcome trip closer to home in Belgium.

The team with the lowest coefficient in the competition is FC Lugano from Switzerland and they make up the full group which, on paper, should be straightforward even for a youthful Gunners side.

Photo: Bertrand Langlois/AFP/Getty Images
Bertrand Langlois/AFP/Getty Images
WORST
Arsenal
Olympique Marseille
Hoffenheim
Hapoel Beer-Sheva

There are a few clubs Arsenal will certainly want to avoid and Marseille in Pot 2 is right up there.

Pot 3 has the likes of Real Sociedad, Mario Balotelli's Nice, Koln from Germany and our pick Hoffenheim, who Liverpool beat in the Champions League play-offs.

Finally, Hapoel Beer-Sheva make up our group despite their inexperience in Europe thanks to a long trip to Israel. Another option is Chelsea feeder club Vitesse.

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