Europa League draw: Arsenal and Chelsea's last-16 opponents assessed

Chelsea are 7-2 and Arsenal are 5-1 for Europa League glory after drawing Dynamo Kiev and Rennes respectively in the competition's last 16.

The Blues completed a 5-1 aggregate defeat of Malmo on Thursday night and will face the Ukrainians, who knocked out Olympiakos in the previous round.

Unai Emery's men, meanwhile, overcame a first-leg deficit to see off Bate Borisov 3-1 on aggregate in the last 32 and their reward in the next round is a game against a Rennes outfit who beat Real Betis 6-4 on aggregate.

Sandwiched between the two English clubs in the tournament betting are 5-1 shots Napoli, who face a testing last-16 encounter with 2018 semi-finalists Salzburg.

The ties are set to take place on March 7 and 14. Below, we assess Arsenal and Chelsea's opponents.

Dynamo Kiev 100-1

Chelsea have struggled for luck lately but the Blues could have done worse than drawing the Ukrainians at this stage of the competition.

Kiev topped a Europa League section featuring Arsenal's opponents Rennes, Kazakhstan's Astana and Jablonec.

They dropped into Europe's secondary competition after failing to contain Ajax in the Champions League playoffs and defensive instability is a weakness Chelsea can target in their knockout clash.

The Ukrainians kept one clean sheet in their six group matches but even that came in a trip to Astana where they allowed their opponents 23 shots in the game.

They are light on talent but Spanish forward Fran Sol could be one to keep an eye on. The 26-year-old scored the decisive goal against Olympiakos on Thursday and was formerly a key part of Villarreal's B team.

Rennes 80-1

With Spanish sides traditionally adept in the Europa League, few would have envisaged Betis failing to progress to the last 16 but Rennes had other ideas.

The French side steered six past Betis in the two legs and they should fancy their chances of causing Arsenal's leaky defence problems.

Their fluid attack features former Milan starlet M'Baye Niang, ex-Newcastle playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa and, their top scorer in the competition with three strikes, Ismaila Sarr.

They have struggled for consistency in Ligue 1 this term but have chalked up wins over Lyon and Saint-Etienne in the league and knocked divisional highflyers Lille out of the French Cup.

Coach Julien Stephan's only managerial experience has been with Rennes but the 38-year-old will be hopeful his side can defy the odds over two legs with the Gunners.

Europa League last-16 draw

Chelsea v Dynamo Kyiv
Eintracht Frankfurt v Internazionale
Dinamo Zagreb v Benfica
Napoli v Red Bull Salzburg
Valencia v Krasnodar
Sevilla v Slavia Prague
Arsenal v Rennes
Zenit v Villarreal

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