Arsenal will have their sights set firmly on nothing but victory on Tuesday night, as they welcome Olympiacos to the Emirates Stadium.
- Kick-off: 19.45 Tuesday 29th September 2015
- Venue: Emirates Stadium
- Last Time Out: Arsenal 3 – 1 Olympiacos
The Gunners came under scrutiny alongside England’s Champions League hopefuls earlier in the month, after crashing to a surprise 2-1 defeat against Dynamo Zagreb in their opening game.
And now Arsene Wenger will want to reassure Arsenal fans that there is no uncertainty over his success in the European competition.
The Frenchman took full blame for the defeat in Croatia after admitting his team selection was a risk, and the majority of players didn’t look ready for the fight.
That statement leads us to believe Wenger will be utilising a full strength squad in London, as they take on an Olympiacos side that currently have five wins in as many games in the Superleague.
Key Men
Arsenal: Theo Walcott
There will be a lot riding on the strikers performance on Tuesday night, and if he impresses it could in fact be a season defining moment.
With Olivier Giroud suspended and Danny Welbeck injured, Wenger has no choice but to throw Walcott back into the centre forward role.
Theo has a free chance to perform in 90 minutes, and if he does that well enough then he can certainly be in contention for Arsenal’s tricky home tie against United at the weekend.
Let’s hope he follows on from his 79th club goal he grabbed against Leicester on Saturday afternoon.
Olympiacos: Alejandro Dominguez
There is a slight chance that the midfielder may not available, but Arsenal should watch out if the number 10 is on the starting team sheet.
He’s been recovering from a thigh strain sustained against Bayern Munich, but is definitely a secret weapon for the Greek side.
At 34 he has a wealth of experience, and is adaptable to play as an attacking midfielder or on either wing with his left foot being a real danger.
Likely Approach
Arsenal will want nothing more than to pick up from where they left off on Saturday afternoon’s 5-2 victory over Leicester, but they have to be wary.
Form at the Emirates this season hasn’t exactly made the place a fortress, and tired legs could halt the attacking options from really digging into Olympiacos early on.
This isn’t going to be an easy game in any sense, but the fact we will see little change from the weekend will prove to be a confidence builder for the home supporters.
Francis Coquelin is expected to make his way back into the starting lineup with Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta both out with minor muscle strains.
That will ensure it’s less of an end-to-end contest and Arsenal will want to control the game, after all Olympiacos are not used to playing against the level of possession football we possess.
Expect it to be frustrating for both sides, and there will be chances for both but very little domination of the game I don’t think, these are two very composed sides.
Olympiacos will be happy travelling home with a point on the board to be quite honest. We saw how relentless their defence can be after it took Bayern 52 minutes to break the deadlock, and it may have finished 3-0 but it was 1-0 at 89 minutes gone.
Wenger has no choice than to play his strongest side following the Zagreb game, and that could also spell trouble because it’s going to take a lot to break down this defence.
The Greek side will ultimately play the game on the counter, but with an in-form partnership of Gabriel/Mertesacker and Koscielny at the back you have faith.
Hector Bellerin will feature instead of Mathieu Debuchy which will put smiles on a lot of faces in the Emirates, and the added positive of a fresh Francis Coquelin helps us a great deal.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Walcott
Predicted Olympiacos XI: Jiminez, Elabdellaoui, Da Costa, Siovas, Masuaku, Pardo, Milivojevic, Fortounis, Dominguez, Ideye, Finnbogason
Prediction: Arsenal 2 – 1 Olympiacos
This is going to be a really tight one but I think Arsenal will just edge it because they have no choice in the matter.
If it’s 1-1 at 75 minutes Wenger will have to change something up, because after two games Arsenal cannot find themselves with one point from a possible six in the group stages.
Sure, that prediction may look like I’m going for an Arsenal victory, but I am very skeptical because I think we will leave it late again.
Olympiacos are brimming with confidence and probably can’t wait to play us, and at the end of the day they’ve got very little to lose so why would they not have a really good go at us.
However, the shortage of attacking options on our bench is a concern, which is why if things will change it will be once Olympiacos begin to tire, as we saw in the Bayern game.
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