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Arsenal manager Unai Emery has insisted he will not be making wholesale changes in personnel between the Premier League and Europa League as he reaffirmed the importance of the European competition's ability to secure a place back in the Champions League. 

After two successive years without a place at Europe's top table, the club is eager to make a return sooner rather than later, and with Emery having won the Europa League three years in a row with Sevilla it appears a realistic route back to the top for the Gunners. 

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Moreover, the Gunners face stern competition for a top four position in the Premier League against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham - and Emery has been quick to insist the importance of a successful European campaign this term.

“After the Champions League, the Europa League is the most important competition,” Emery said, via the Telegraph.

“If teams cannot play in the Champions League, it is very important. When we opened this possibility that, when you win the Europa League, you play in the Champions League, it was the key to improve the interest in this competition.

“I have proven with my experience to know the best way to manage the players [in the Europa League],” he continued. 

A change in tact awaits for Arsenal under Emery, having seen the squad heavily rotated in the early stages of the competition last season under Arsene Wenger - with the Spaniard revealing he intends to maintain continuity. 

“My idea first isn’t to change 11 players for one competition and the next competition. Each match is giving us information for how we can play,” he added.

The Gunners' opening fixture in the Europa League comes against Ukraine’s FC Vorskla, a game which precedes their remaining group fixtures against Qarabag FK and Sporting.