Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 5y

Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to miss Qarabag match

Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will miss Thursday's Europa League against Qarabag, but Unai Emery brought most of his other stars to Azerbaijan despite a difficult travel schedule.

Emery said on Wednesday that Ramsey asked to stay home because of his wife's pregnancy, while Aubameyang struggled with an illness this week.

"Aaron Ramsey asked me if he can stay in London because his wife is pregnant and they are waiting on the doctors," Emery told a news conference in Baku.

Ramsey's future is in doubt after contract negotiations between the midfielder and the club broke down last month, with his contract expiring next summer. However, the Wales international started Saturday's home win over Watford in the Premier League.

The Gunners are also without Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who stayed home because of the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and his native Armenia. But Premier League regulars like Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Torreira all travelled as Emery opted against rotating his squad heavily, despite facing a six-hour flight back to London and a noon kickoff against Fulham on Sunday.

"We are giving each competition our best preparation, our best performance and the travel is long, but it's not an excuse," Emery said. "The best idea is to think only of the match tomorrow and with the respect for this competition because we want, at the end, to finish first in the group. We want to win tomorrow with the best players for playing. ... I prefer to have more time to recover physically for the players. But for me, it's good and we are OK tomorrow with every player to play. We are going to be also perfect to play against Fulham on Sunday."

Arsenal are looking for their second straight win in the group after beating FC Vorskla at home last month. Mkhitaryan would have needed a special permit to enter Azerbaijan as Armenians are banned from the country, but opted not to apply for an exception to the visa rules because of the security situation.

Mkhitaryan also skipped a trip to Azerbaijan in 2015 when he was with Borussia Dortmund because of the country's conflict with Armenia over over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. His availability could become an issue for the final in Baku as well if Arsenal make it that far -- but Emery didn't want to look that far ahead.

"It's a long time for us to arrive at the final. We are thinking only of the performance tomorrow," he said.

Thursday's game could be another chance for Alex Iwobi to shine in midfield. Iwobi was one of Arsenal's best players against Vorskla is expected to start again after mainly being used a substitute in the Premier League.

Iwobi is one of the players who seems to have benefited the most from Emery's arrival this summer, though, as his performances have have improved since last season. The Nigeria international said that's in part because of the new manager urging him to become more of a scoring threat.

"This season I've been working a lot more on trying to improve my finishing and also assisting my teammates which is what I believe someone in my position should do to get to the next level," Iwobi said. "There's no pressure or weight on my shoulders. I'm just enjoying my football. The team is enjoying the new style and the new things we've brought into training. So it's not just me playing with freedom, it's my teammates as well."

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