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Who could Arsenal and Everton face in the Europa League group-stage draw?

The Europa league cup is pictured prior to the ceremony for the quarter-final draw of the quarter-final draw for the UEFA Europa League football tournament

Arsenal and Everton will find out their Europa League group-stage opponents when the draw is made on Friday.

The Gunners, preparing for their first European campaign outside the Champions League since 1999/2000, will be joined in the hat by Everton, who beat Hajduk Split 3-1 on aggregate.

The group stage draw takes place in Monaco on Friday at midday - here's what else you need to know...

How does the draw work?

It will comprise 48 teams, with 16 entering the competition at this stage, 22 progressing from the Europa League play-off round and 10 dropping down from the Champions League play-off round following elimination.

The 48 entrants are split into four seeding pots based on their club coefficients, with each of the eventual 12 groups to contain one team from each seeding tier.

No team can play a club from their own association - so Everton and Arsenal cannot be in the same group - with the exact draw procedure confirmed before Friday's ceremony.

Who's in the hat?

Arsenal are one of 16 teams to have qualified automatically for the group stage.

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Those clubs have been joined by 10 teams eliminated from the Champions League at the play-off round.

That includes Mario Balotelli's Nice and Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool.

The 22 winning clubs from the Europa League play-off round will then complete the list of 48 group-stage participants.

What pots?

Pot One Pot Two Pot Three Pot Four
Arsenal Steaua Bucharest Astana Apollon Limassol
Zenit Ludogorets Partizan İstanbul Başakşehir
Lyon BATE Borisov Hoffenheim Konyaspor
Dynamo Kiev Everton FC Koln Vitesse
Villarreal Young Boys Victoria Slavia Prague
Athletic Bilbao Marseille Atlanta Red Star Belgrade
Lazio Real Sociedad Zulte Waregem Skënderbeu Korçë
Milan Maccabi Tel Aviv Zorya Luhansk Fastav Zlín
Viktoria Plzen Lokomotiv Moscow Rosenborg AEK Athens
Copenhagen Austria Vienna Sheriff Tiraspol Lugano
Braga Hertha Berlin Hapoel Be'er Sheva Vardar
Nice Östersund

Who could Arsenal, Everton face?

Everton will be kept apart from Arsenal in the draw.

The Gunners hold the highest coefficient ranking (105.192) making them a top seed.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 11:  (L-R) Granit Xhaka and Nacho Monreal of Arsenal look on after conceding a second first half goal during the Premier League ma
Image: Arsenal are competing in Europe's second-tier competition at the group stage for the first time since 2000

Villarreal, Lazio and Lyon are also top seeds so Arsenal will avoid these teams. That means no Lyon reunion for Arsenal's club-record signing Alexandre Lacazette, although the two sides could face each other in the knockout rounds should they qualify.

The remaining top seeds will be confirmed after Thursday's second-leg ties.

But Arsenal could face Eredivisie side Vitesse, who have several Chelsea players on loan including Mason Mount, Charlie Colkett and Matt Miazga.

Everton could find themselves drawing one of the bigger names as they will be drawn from pot two.

When does the action start?

The group stage kicks off on September 14 and finishes on December 7. The tournament comes to a climax in Lyon on May 16, 2018.

Tune in to Sky Sports News or follow the draw on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps.

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