Chelsea are in the much unloved European competition, and will find out who they will face this season at least in the group phase, on Friday when the draw takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The Blues finished in a lowly sixth place last season under Antonio Conte; and under Maurizio Sarri, are expected to get as far as possible in all the competitions they are involved in including the Europa League.
They will be housed in Pot 1, with Arsenal,the one other English team in the competition this season, and will find themselves with some other top sides across the continent such as Sevilla.
This is how the groupings will work. The 48 qualified teams will be split into four seeding pots based their UEFA coefficient with each of the 12 groups containing one team from each pot.
Chelsea are considered favorites to win the competition this season, after their first attempt yielded excellent results in 2013 under Rafa Benitez, when they beat Benfica 2-1 in the final, and the official Europa Twitter account look like they are looking forward to seeing the Blues battle already.
Jorginho & Hazard 🔥🔥🔥#UEL pic.twitter.com/hBQbdmv8dB
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 28, 2018
