Arsenal welcome lowest-ever crowd to the Emirates Stadium as less than 30,000 turn up for their Europa League tie against BATE Borisov, despite club claiming it was a sell-out

• e-mail

Arsenal's players were greeted by thousands of empty seats at the Emirates Stadium in Thursday's Europa League tie against BATE Borisov, despite the club claiming it was a sell-out before kick-off.

Arsene Wenger's side were safely through to the knockout stages of this season's second-tier European competition but although the official attendance was marked at 54,648, Sportsmail understands there were less than 30,000 in attendance.

The lack of support was clearly visible with empty seats seen throughout the Emirates, despite signs outside the ground before kick-off insisting the contest was sold out.

Arsenal welcomed less than 30,000 fans to the Emirates against BATE Borisov on Thursday

'Have never seen the Emirates so empty for a first-team game,' said Sportsmail's Adam Shergold at the Emirates Stadium.

'About half-full I’d estimate. But then this is a pretty tough sell, isn’t it? A dead rubber with qualification assured, live television coverage and folks tightening their belts with Christmas in mind.

'There is a small but excitable band of BATE supporters over in the corner - it’s about 1,900km from Borisov to London.' 

Those who attended the game were treated to a stunning 6-0 Arsenal win with goals from Mathieu Debuchy, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud, Mohamed Elneny and a Dzyanis Palyakow own goal.

Empty seats could be seen throughout the stadium during Thursday's Europa League game

Signs outside of the stadium before kick-off insisted the contest was sold out

The previous record was the 44,064 that witnessed Arsenal's win over Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup back in September.

The number of tickets sold for the third round tie came in less than the previous low of 46,539 for a League Cup match with Shrewsbury Town on September 20, 2011.

Those present at the Emirates against Doncaster suggested that although 44,064 tickets had officially been sold, the large sections of empty seats suggested the true attendance was even lower.