Twitter-Arsenal
The Gunners brought an end to their streak of drawing four games on the trot by registering a thumping 4-0 win against Newcastle United over the weekend. Mikel Arteta’s men will now be taking a trip to the Karaiskakis Stadium to face Olympiacos for the first-leg in the Round of 32 in the Europa League. The fixture will not be taken for granted by Arsenal as Olympiacos reside at the top spot in the Greece Super League with 60 points from 24 games.
Match Details
Date- Friday, February 21
Kick-Off- 1:30 AM (IST)
Venue- Karaiskakis Stadium
Olympiacos
Hillal Soudani is the only player who remains on the sidelines due to injury. Emre Mor was recently brought in on loan for the remainder of the season from Galatasary and could get to start here. Ahmed Hassan was also purchased in the transfer market and has scored in successive matches for his side.
Arsenal
Shkodran Mustafi served a one-match ban in the final group game for Arsenal and is back in contention over here. January signing Pablo Mari is likely to make his debut for the Gunners. Cedric Soares, Kieran Tierney and Calum Chambers are on the sidelines for Mikel Arteta. Dani Ceballos hasn’t been a part of much football lately and could earn another start here. Alexandre Lacazette and Gabriel Martinelli should feature in the lineup, while Matteo Guendouzi might have to settle for the bench. Mesut Ozil has been left out of the squad due to personal reasons, while Lucas Torreira is a doubt to start due to illness.
OLY (Expected Playing 11)- Sa; Tsimikas, Semedo, Cisse, Elabellaoui; Guilherme, Camara, Valbuena; Masouras, El-Arabi, Randjelovic
ARS (Expected Playing 11)- Leno; Maitland Niles, Sokratis, Mustafi, Kolasinac; Ceballos, Xhaka; Pepe, Willock, Martinelli; Lacazette
Guilherme has been pivotal in Olympiacos’ midfield. The Brazillian had a goal and an assist from 450 minutes in the Champions League this season. Guilherme has also scored two goals from 18 games in the domestic league.
Gabriel Martinelli is turning out to be an exciting prospect for Arsenal. The 18-yer-old centre-forward has three goals, two assists and a pass accuracy of 74% from 351 minutes in the Europa League this season.
Youssef El-Arabi has been lethal in the final third for Olympiacos. The centre-forward bagged three goals from 277 minutes in the Champions League this season and has also scored 17 goals from 23 appearances in the Greek League in the ongoing campaign.
Alexandre Lacazette got back onto the scoresheet in the last game against Newcastle and could be hungry for more. Lacazette has six goals, three assists and a pass accuracy of 75% from 19 appearances in the league this season for Arsenal.
Nicolas Pepe has also done well in the Europa League this season. Pepe has two goals, two assists and a pass accuracy of 84.8% from 161 minutes in the European competition this season for Arsenal.
Though Olympiacos might be playing in front of home support, Arsenal might just be able to scrape a point through a draw.
Goalkeeper- B Leno
Defenders- A M Niles, S Kolasinac, O Elabdellaoui
Midfielders- N Pepe, D Ceballos, Guilherme, M Valbuena
Forwards- G Martinelli (VC), A Lacazette, Y E Arabi (C)
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