Played
September 29, 2011 12:15 AM IST
Emirates Stadium — London
Referee:‬ Carlos Velasco‎
Attendance:‬ 59676‎
 

Arsenal - Olympiakos Preview: Arsene Wenger's Side Look To Continue Upturn In Form Against Greek Team

The Gunners look to have shaken off their poor start to the Premier League season and will host a team who are notoriously poor travellers in European competition

By David Lynch

More On :  Arsenal, Olympiakos Piraeus, Arsenal vs Olympiakos Piraeus

PROBABLE LINEUPS

ARSENAL

Szczesny
Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs
Arteta, Ramsey, Song
Arshavin, Van Persie, Gervinho
OLYMPIAKOS

Costanzo
Torosidis, Mellberg, Papadopolous, Holebas Abdoun, Fejsa, Fuster, Modesto, Yeste
Mirallas

  Live On Ten Sports
 29/09/11 12:15 AM IST


Arsenal’s well-documented nightmare start to the season seems to have settled down after back-to-back victories over Shrewsbury and Bolton.

Kieran Gibbs scored his first goal for the Gunners against Shrewsbury and may well be picked over fellow left-back Andre Santos, who hasn’t enjoyed the quickest of starts.

It has been reported that Theo Walcott has been ruled out with a knee problem, and Andrey Arshavin is likely to come in if that is the case.

Olympiakos favoured a 4-5-1 formation in their first Champions League tie of the season and given the pedigree of their opponents and the location of the game, it is likely they will do the same again.

Striker Kevin Mirallas is the only forward to start each of the Greek side’s three games so far this season and so is most likely to lead the line.

Defender Olof Mellberg will be familiar to Premier League fans having spent seven years of his career at Aston Villa.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • These two sides met in the group stage of the Champions League in 2009, each winning their home tie.
  • Neither of these clubs has ever lifted the Champions League in its new or old format. Arsenal were beaten finalists in 2006 and Olympiakos furthest progression was to the quarter-finals.
  • Olympiakos have never gained a single point playing in England and have scored only one goal.
  • That goal was scored by Brazilian Rivaldo at Anfield in 2004/05 but sparked the comeback which eventually led to a famous Liverpool victory in the competition.
  • Arsene Wenger (right) celebrates 15 years as the Gunners’ manager this week. His counterpart Ernesto Valverde has been at Olympiakos just over a year.
  • Both managers have suffered the dubious honour of finishing runner-up in a European final. Wenger in the 2006 Champions League final and Valverde in the 2007 Uefa Cup final with Espanyol.
  • Arsenal captain Robin van Persie’s second goal against Bolton was his 100th for the club.
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Top 3 Predictions
  • Arsenal 2-0 Olympiakos Piraeus
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  • Arsenal 3-0 Olympiakos Piraeus
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  • Arsenal 3-1 Olympiakos Piraeus
    13.82 %
Head to Head
UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 05-Dec-2012 Olympiakos Piraeus 2 - Arsenal 1
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UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 04-Oct-2012 Arsenal 3 - Olympiakos Piraeus 1
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UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 07-Dec-2011 Olympiakos Piraeus 3 - Arsenal 1
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UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 29-Sep-2011 Arsenal 2 - Olympiakos Piraeus 1
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UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 09-Dec-2009 Olympiakos Piraeus 1 - Arsenal 0
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Last Five Matches
Arsenal
19-May-2013Newcastle 0 - Arsenal 1EPL
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21-Apr-2013Olympiakos Piraeus 2 - Panionios 1GRE1
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31-Mar-2013Olympiakos Piraeus 0 - PAOK 0GRE1
17-Mar-2013Kerkyra 0 - Olympiakos Piraeus 1GRE1
Odds
Team News
Available Squads
13Wojciech SzczesnyGoalkeeper
3Bacary SagnaDefender
4Per MertesackerDefender
27Andre SantosDefender
7Tomas RosickyMidfielder
8Mikel ArtetaMidfielder
25Alex SongMidfielder
35Emmanuel FrimpongMidfielder
23Andrey ArshavinMidfielder
15Alex Oxlade-ChamberlainStriker
29Marouane ChamakhStriker
21Lukasz FabianskiGoalkeeper
25Carl Jenkinson Defender
28Kieran GibbsDefender
16Aaron RamseyMidfielder
35Francis CoquelinMidfielder
18Chu-Young ParkStriker
20Robin van PersieStriker
-Franco CostanzoGoalkeeper
4Olof MellbergDefender
20Jose HolebasDefender
25MarcanoDefender
-Vasilis TorosidisDefender
7Ariel Miguel IbagazaMidfielder
8Ljubomir FejsaMidfielder
19David FusterMidfielder
6OrbaizMidfielder
10Rafik Zoheir DjebbourStriker
11Kevin MirallasStriker
42Balasz MegyeriGoalkeeper
3François ModestoDefender
21Avraam PapadopoulosDefender
92Giannis PotouridisDefender
17Jean II MakounMidfielder
93Djamel AbdounMidfielder
9Marko PantelicStriker
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