Arsenal take on Olympiacos in their second UEFA Champions League match of the 2015/16 campaign, at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Gunners have come off a fantastic 5-2 win away at Leicester. They beat the Foxes, who were up until last Saturday undefeated in all competitions, resoundingly, their star man obviously being Alexis Sánchez. The Chilean sandwiched in a hat-trick between goals from the two men vying for the striker position, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, picking up the Man of the Match award on the way. There was some great end-to-end play in the first half, but Arsenal managed to settle into a dominating rhythm in the second half, completing a great way to come back to winning ways in the league. Considering their disaster start in the Champions League group stage two weeks ago. Arsenal have set themselves up nicely for this Tuesday.
The opposition are in very good form in Greece. Top of the domestic league table, they have won all their first five Superleague games in Greece, by at least a minimum of two goals as well – perhaps the expected of a team that’s dominant in their own country. Looking back to two weeks ago, though, Olympiacos were thrashed 3-0 at home against Arsenal’s biggest rivals for pole position in this group, Bayern Munich – so they obviously haven’t fared so well on the international stage. However, it looks a challenging side that is desperate to get off the mark on Matchday 2.
A player Olympiacos will want to watch out for is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Englishman is set to start this Tuesday and will look to turn his opposing player inside out with his explosive runs, pace and relative strength. If he can focus and know when to make the right decision, he’s in for a hell of a game.
Arsenal will still need to watch out for the Greeks though, especially Esteban Cambiasso, who signed for the Greek league leaders this summer after finishing his contract at the King Power Stadium. The Argentinian midfielder had a strong season at Leicester last year, and will look to impose a similar sort of impact in the middle of the park this Tuesday.
The Gunners should find this occasion fairly easy to handle. In front of a home crowd after a morale-boosting win normally produces the results, especially against a lesser side quality-wise like Olympiacos. It’ll set Arsène Wenger’s men in good stead for what could be a vital match against Bayern in a couple of weeks time, so it’s important that they produce the goods.
Injury News
The usual, again. Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky are all out for longer periods of time with their respective injuries. Wenger has also said that Francis Coquelin could be available as a consequence of Mathieu Flamini’s injury last Saturday, although the final decision remains to be seen.
Possible Team
Arsenal will play the usual 4-2-3-1. Gabriel looks to have claimed a starting berth, so he’ll play in defence with Mathieu Debuchy, Kieran Gibbs and Laurent Koscielny partnering him – David Ospina behind that four-piece. With Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey in midfield, and a front line of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud up front, there will be a host of changes at N5.
Prediction:
A 2-0 win to the Arsenal. David Ospina will be forced into a couple saves but will be rarely challenged, whilst the Gunners will run away to the dressing rooms at half time with two goals, courtesy of Olivier Giroud and a Mikel Arteta penalty.
