arsenal v olympiakos preview. 7.45pm.03/10/12

Arsenal v olympiakos

The gunners are back in action this Wednesday, and will be hoping to put last weekends defeat behind them. Arsene Wenger would need his side to show resolve against a tough greek side; In my own dramatic(probably unnecessary) fashion  i've billed it as the ‘the north london armoury’ vs ‘the demi – gods’(get it?).

Here are some little facts that might help you during your pub quiz(or even if you just want to sound like an expert): These two teams have met twice in the champions league with each winning their home games on both occasions.arsenal have scored 13 goals and conceded 5 in all competitions, while olympiakos have scored 14 and conceded 5 in all competitions.

Arsenal could be without Mikel arteta for the greek sides visit as the spanish midfielder would face a late fitness test this morning following an ankle injury.The gunners would also be without diaby,and szczesny who is about three weeks away from full recovery. Olympiakos are set to name Roy Caroll in goal .the former manchester united and west ham keeper would be making a return to the shores of england since his move to greece. They come into this match on a domestic run of wins that spans four matches.

Arsenal started their champions league campaign with a 2-1 win at montpelliers’ ground with podolski and gervinho(arsenals top scorer this season) scoring the goals to give them the win after going a goal down. The arsenal manager believe this would be a tough game as the greek side lost their own champions league opener at home to schalke.” Olympiakos are already in a position where their backs are to the wall because they have already lost at home and in this champions league,when you lose at home itis very difficult” said wenger.

The home side would have to restructure their midfield,following the loss of diaby and the possible absence of arteta. To wengers relief he has ‘decent’ cover for those positions and we could see one of ramsey,coquelin, or chamberlain slot into midfield. I suspect the visitors would want to negate the flow of the arsenal play and hit them on the counter,so i expect a very tactical encounter with few goals and a lot of patient play.

So come the end of this nights encounter; would Arsene Wenger’s men be three points closer to the knock out stages of the competition?,or would they still be suffering from the humbling defeat inflicted on them by their bitter london rivals. I predict a 2-1 home win.