Arsenal v Olympiakos Champions League Preview

Arsenal v Olympiacos
Champions League, 2015-16
Date: Saturday, 29 September, 2015
Time: 19:45 BST
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London  
Where to watch: BT Sport 2
Live Stream Info: BT Sport Live Streaming  

Arsenal suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb in the first group stage match of this season’s Champions League. The loss was a big blow for the north London club as the Champions League predictions from experts had favoured the Gunners to win the clash.

However, things did not go as planned for Arsene Wenger and his side. Two yellow cards for star attacker Olivier Giroud saw the English club reduce to 10 men in the 40th minute. He is suspended and injury to Danny Welbeck has forced French manager to start Theo Walcott against the Greek outfit.

Since the defeat to Chelsea, the Premier League outfit have bounced back with two wins in two matches. In the last fixture, Alexis Sanchez was the star man for Arsenal as they sealed a 5-2 victory over Leicester City.

In the last five meetings between Arsenal and Olympiacos, the latter has won three times, while the remaining two has been won by the Gunners. Only once, the Emirates club have failed to score against them, while the Greek outfit has found the back of the net in each and every occasion.

The other two teams in the group are Dinamo Zagreb and German giants Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga champions defeated Olympiacos 3-0  and the two teams won their respective opening matches as and the two face each other in the other fixture from the group.

A defeat against Olympiacos will only make it worse for Wenger and Arsenal in order to keep their hope of progressing to the knockout stages of the Europe’s elite club competition. Wenger will keep an eye on the weekend fixture as well as they face Manchester United.

Considering the recent form, injuries and also the next fixture against Louis van Gaal’s side, Arsenal will need to call on their bench strength to beat the visiting side – however, after digging deep in the last game, we’d expect them to do the same in Europe.

A draw at the Emirates and a defeat to either Bayern or Dinamo will only make the group very interesting for the next four matches. At this stage Arsenal are a good bet to finish second in their group, although I would happily put a £30 free bet through Paddy Power on Arsenal toppling Bayern at the Emirates if the stars are aligned.

Team News

Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere are out with long-term knee and ankle injuries. The England international duo are joined by Francis Coquelin, who suffered a hamstring injury and last featured in the Gunners’ 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.

Mathieu Fla-mini impressed in Arsenal’s 2-1 Capital One Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. The Frenchman started against Leicester City and limped off, which means he is likely to miss the midweek Champions League clash.

Star striker Olivier Giroud saw a red card against Dinamo Zagreb and the French international will not be available for team selection.

For Olympiacos, Luka Milivojevic is forced to sit out the tie against Arsenal due to suspension. Knee ligament injury to Giannis Maniatis could force him to sit on the sidelines, while Alejandro Domínguez remains doubtful.

Possible Lineups: Arsenal v Olympiacos

Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Arteta, Cazorla; Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez; Walcott

Olympiacos: Roberto; Elabdellaoui, Da Costa, Siovas, Masuaku; Pardo, Milivojevic, Fortounis, Bouchalakis; Durmaz, Finnbogason.