ARS vs OLY Match Preview: Arsenal will be playing hosts to Olympiacos to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg of the Round of 32 in the Europa League. Mikel Arteta’s men currently have the edge, thanks to the all important away goal from Alexander Lacazette. The Gunners are also unbeaten in 2020 and will be looking to complete the formalities at home in order to advance to the next stage. As for Olympiacos, they did bounce back with a 1-0 win to second placed PAOK in the domestic league which extended their lead at the top.
Match Details
Date- Friday, February 28
Kick-Off- 1:30 AM (IST)
Venue-Emirates Stadium
Arsenal
Sead Kolasinac’s shoulder injury against Everton puts him on the sidelines for the upcoming fixture. Cedric Soares, Calum Chambers and Kieran Tierney are also among those who miss out due to injury. Lucas Torreira and Mesut Ozil didn’t feature in the first leg, though both might get to start at home. Joe Willock, Gabriel Martinelli and Lacazette will be expected to lead the forward line.
Olympiacos
Ruben Semedo is undergoing suspension for the visitors and misses out the second leg. Pape Abou Cisse is likely to come in place of Ousseynou Ba at centre-back. Hillal Soudani is the only player that remains on the sidelines to a knee injury.
ARS (Expected Playing 11)- Leno; Sokratis, Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac; Guendouzi, Torreira, Nelson, Willock; Martinelli, Lacazette
OLY (Expected Playing 11)-Sa; Elabdellaoui, Cisse, Ba; Tsimikas, Fortunis, Guilherme; Camara, Masouras, El Arabi, Valbuena
Gabriel Martinelli has been one of the standouts for Arsenal in the attacking front. The 18-year-old has three goals, two assists and a pass accuracy of 74% from 409 minutes in the league this season.
Alexandre Lacazette can also pack a punch while leading the line of attack for the Gunners. Lacazette has two goals from 280 minutes in the Europa League this season and also has a pass accuracy of 72%
Mathieu Valbuena has been one of the mainstays for Olympiacos. The 35-year-old has six goals from 18 appearances for his side in the Greece Super League.
Youssef El Arabi has been among the goals for Olympiacos. The Morocco international has 17 goals from 24 games in the domestic league this season.
Arsenal is expected to bag the win in front of home support.
Goalkeeper- J Sa
Defenders- S Musafi, S Papastahopoulas, D Luiz, O Ba
Midfielders- J Willock, M Camara, M Valbuena
Forwards- G Martinelli (C), A Lacazette (VC), Y E Arabi