Arsenal have sold more than 50,000 tickets for BATE Borisov Europa League tie

Arsenal's official attendance figures are based on tickets sold
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James Olley5 December 2017

Arsenal have sold more than 50,000 tickets for Thursday's final Europa League game against BATE Borisov.

The match is a dead rubber given the Gunners have already secured top spot in Group H and with manager Arsene Wenger set to heavily rotate his starting line-up once again, there are fears fans will stay away in their droves.

Standard Sport understands the club have sold the vast majority of their 60,000 capacity but it remains to be seen how many supporters actually turn up, with thousands staying away for previous home matches in the competition against Cologne and Red Star Belgrade.

Arsenal's lowest official attendance came against Doncaster in September's EFL Cup win, when 44,064 tickets were issued. The numbers are complicated by the fact Arsenal state their attendances in terms of tickets sold rather than numbers through the turnstiles on the night.

The official attendance for last month's 0-0 draw with Red Star was 58,285 although the number inside the ground was much lower.

The club has attempted to avoid a poor turnout by reducing some admission prices to as low as £15.50 while also offering tickets to local schools and community groups.

Arsenal are also encouraging season ticket holding not wishing to attend to use the official Ticket Exchange programme, especially in light of Saturday's defeat to Manchester United, after which the club issues a statement revealing they had worked with Metropolitan Police to identify nine ticket touts working the game.

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