The Independent - Daily Edition September 1, 2018 Saturday Why Mkhitaryan could miss match against Qarabag & Europa League final by LUKE BROWN Unai Emery faces a possible selection headache over Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan, after Arsenal were drawn in the same Europa League group as Azerbaijani side FK Qarabag. Mkhitaryan was forced to miss a previous European trip to the country while at Borussia Dortmund in 2015, because of 'safety concerns' relating to a conflict between Azerbaijan and his native Armenia. Arsenal are due to meet Qarabag in Baku on 4 November. The 2018/19 Europa League final is also due to be staged in the city, which could pose further problems for Arsenal should they qualify. On Friday, Emery said he had not yet discussed the situation with Mkhitaryan, but added that he wants to include the 29-year-old in his squad for the match if possible. Emery has started Mkhitaryan in each of his three Premier League matches in charge of the club so far. "Not yet," he replied, when asked if he had met with Mkhitaryan. "But I would like he stays with us. This problem, if we can together arrange, I think it is better, but I have not yet spoken with him." Arsenal later added in a statement: "Safety and security of all our players and staff is always a top priority. We will be looking into this situation, talk to the player and make a decision after that." Uefa meanwhile pledged to support any visa application made on behalf of the player. "It is a standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visas for players in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa matches," a spokesperson told The Independent. The Independent has contacted the Azerbaijan embassy for comment and is awaiting a response. There are currently no diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia owing to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The region, along with some neighbouring territory, has been under the control of Armenian soldiers and local ethnic Armenian forces since a 1994 ceasefire ended a bloody six-year war. There have been occasional outbreaks of violence since. Arsenal have also been drawn alongside Sporting Lisbon and Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava, in a group that involves almost 10,000 miles of travel. However Emery - who won the tournament three years in a row while at Sevilla - has pledged to make the Europa League a priority. "We want to go far in this competition," Emery said. "Each match is different and each match involves a lot of travel. For some, the travel is very long but it's like that. "The adaptation for these three teams needs to be positive and we need to face them with ambition and our interest to do well in the competition." The Arsenal manager also suggested he would be experimenting with his line-up when Arsenal's squad return from next week's international break. "When you play two matches in a week, you have more time to prepare for the matches, to prepare the players physically," he said. "When you play three matches in a week, it's hard. There's less time to prepare for the match and work physically, but we want it like that. We want to play three matches in a week with the league and the cups.