Arsenal will play the first leg of their Round of 32 Europa League clash against Olympiakos on Thursday at the Karaiskakis Stadium. The Gunners head into the tie in a confident mood after putting four past Newcastle United without reply in the Premier League on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side played very well against the Magpies, and the Spaniard will hope that his players keep up the goalscoring form and take a good lead back to the Emirates for the second leg.
Arsenal Team News
Mesut Ozil will miss the game due to personal reasons, while Lucas Torreira has not travelled to Greece due to an illness.
The likes of Kieran Tierney and Cedric Soares will also not feature due to injury. But, there’s some good news for Arteta as Pablo Mari, who signed for the Gunners in January, could feature for the first time.
Mattéo Guendouzi should also return to the squad after being dropped for the Newcastle game due to disciplinary issues.
Let’s take a look at the possible Arsenal lineup for the game against Olympiakos:
Predicted Arsenal Lineup vs Olympiakos
Goalkeeper
Emiliano Martínez could start the game as he has been the Gunners’ goalkeeper for Europa League games.
Defence
Arteta may give Pablo Mari his debut on Thursday, starting alongside David Luiz at the back. Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi are other options for Arteta in central defence.
Bukayo Saka could continue at left-back after yet another impressive performance against Newcastle United. Sead Kolasinac is an option for Arteta at left-back. Hector Bellerin should continue at right-back for the north London side.
Midfield
Torreira’s absence means that Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos could continue as the two central midfielders, while the returning Mattéo Guendouzi is an option for Arteta as well.
Ozil’s absence means that Joe Willock could start in the role behind the striker in the Arsenal lineup.
Attack
Alexandre Lacazette was dropped for the last game, but scored a goal when he came on. He should start up top for the Gunners, while Nicolas Pepe – who scored one and assisted twice – should start on the right side.
It will be interesting to see if Gabriel Martinelli starts on the left side or if Arteta keeps captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Arsenal lineup for this game.
