Match Preview

After the Gunners best win of the season on Sunday, they will look to build on this result in Greece, but this game will be no easy ride as Olympiakos are generally very tough to beat at home.

In a hostile atmosphere, I expect the opening exchanges to see the home side go for the throat of Arsenal, as they will be wanting a positive result to take back to North London next week. Arteta will want his side to continue their impressive away form since he took over, by controlling the game, keeping the ball moving quickly much like they did on Sunday against Newcastle. If they play to the level they displayed in the second half at the weekend, I see the home side not being able to cope with Arsenal’s frightening attack. However, this will be far from an easy fixture for the Gunners, as Pedro Martin’s side are currently unbeaten in the league this season while sitting two points clear at the summit. Let’s have a look at both teams injury news ahead of their clash on Thursday night:

Arteta’s most notable absentees are Kieran Tierney, who is recovering from surgery on a dislocated shoulder. He should be back in full training at the end of February. Callum Chambers will also be missing for the rest of the season due to rupturing his ACL against Chelsea in December. It also looks likely that Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and Cedric Soares will miss the round of 32 clash due to personal reasons, illness and injury. Arsenal will welcome Pablo Mari into the fray as he picked up his first minutes as an Arsenal player on Monday night and as a result is deemed fit enough. Apart from these, everyone else is available for selection. Olympiakos will be without 32-year old winger El Arbi Hillel Soudani who ruptured his ACL and is expected to miss around 6-9 months. Key attacker Daniel Podence completed a January move to Wolves, who will be a big miss for the Greek side in this fixture.

Predicted Lineup

Formation – 4-2-3-1

GK – Emilio Martinez

RB – Maitland-Niles

CB – David Luiz

CB – Sokratis

LB – Sead Kolasinac

CM – Dani Ceballos

CM – Granit Xhaka

RM – Nicolas Pepe

CAM – Joe Willock

LM – Aubameyang

ST – Alexandre Lacazette

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James Humphreys