Arsenal take on Olympiacos at the Emirates this evening with a 3-1 lead from the first leg in Athens.
Mikel Arteta will be looking for his side to do the business with minimum fuss. Here are the official line-ups.
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney, Xhaka, Elneny, Ceballos, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Aubameyang
Subs: Ryan, Okwonko, Holding, Cedric, Chambers, Mari, Partey, Odegaard, Nelson, Nketiah, Lacazette, Martinelli
Olympiacos: Sa, Holebas, Ba, Sokratis, Androutous, M’Vila, Camara, Reabciuk, Masouras, Fortounis, El-Arabi.
Subs: Karargyris, Tzolakis, Bouchalakis, Vrousai, Drager, Bruma, Lala, Sourlis, Randjelovic
Not a week side today. Good to see partey odegaard and Saka have a rest
I wish Tierney was being rested!
Me too. And Luiz.
And Xhaka. I don’t think he’s had any rest. At all.
We are crying out for a second choice left back alright
If it was a 4 or 5 goal lead then maybe, but this is still such a crucial match and we are not through yet – this is arsenal after all. Our season really does still hinge on this competition so i’m glad we havent taken too many risks. Hopefully we can kill the game by half time and let tierney split the minutes with cedric
Yes, I guess we really should get through but we have to remember if/when we do it will still only be the quarter finals next so there’s a way to go yet.
Easy to say we should have rested Tierney, but if we lost, people would say that Arteta didn’t take it seriously. This tie is far from over.
Not at all. The side had been planned many “weaks” before today.
Ceballos in that Odegaard role?
I like the idea, surprised that it’s esr there though, with willy on the left or something
Was asking the same question myself. Ceballos further forward than usual or change of shape?
maybe more of a 4-3-3?
He has played there before I think
Would be good if he could give us another creative optoon
Willian not even on bench.
hope is not being rested for West Ham ))
He needs to rest those young teenage years (;
Legs not years …
Gotta have him at 100% to start against West Ham. Those dribbles back into his own half need a lot of energy
he’s in Dubai
Ouch!
Sorry, first thing that came into my head 😆
Ty, that is who is missing
I saw Nketieh and Nelson was on the bench on was like Oh Cool! But couldn’t for the life of me think of who was missing besides Saka. Had to google the Arsenal squad to realize Willian was the missing man.
Fourth game for Luiz in what…14 days? We might be in for a clanger. 😬
I think the ability to make five substitutions gives Arteta a lot of leeway.
That’s a lot of games in a short time for Luiz. Very glad Pepe’s playing. His recent performances have deserved some starts.
Nelson exists! Hopefully, he and Martinelli can get a decent amount of minutes today.
Grab a first half goal or two and I suspect we will see them for a good bit
must admit I’m bit surprised no holding today, but sure look.
I think his name is Okonkwo
Yup, like the main character in the book Things Fall Apart (well worth a read).
I hope things work out a little better for our Okonkwo!
Also COYG!
His name is Robert Paulson.
Glad Auba has had his watch fixed. It’s a “useful” lead, better than I thought we would have had from the first leg, but we can’t afford any silly mistakes (which haven’t exactly been unknown in the past). Anyway, the lineup looks strong enough so we really should go though – hopefully with no injuries as a bonus.
Okwonko has taken over from Hein the 4-th goalkeeper role
3rd really – no Runarsson
Hopefully a strong starting lineup to secure the tie, followed by changes to give others a decent time later. 5 subs in EL should be used to help the squad.
Looks solid enough. Shame Tierney couldn’t get a rest. COYG!
Yeah and Scotland are gonna give him 3×90 minutes next week – they’ll be expecting 9 points from their World Cup Qualification games (Austria, Israel, Faroe).
Maybe just the 45 or 60 minutes today and Cedric can replace him.
I hope so and back players to score atleast 1 goal by 60 mins mark without conceding. Then it would be safe to have Cedric.
Would hope Scotland don’t need him for the Faroe match…
They have to be able to beat the Faroe Islands without him, right? RIGHT?!?
Yeees, but if they rest him and lose to the Faroes….!
I’m glad Arteta chose to go with a strong defense. Gotta protect that lead!! COYG!!!
433 or Diamond?
Hopefully we can get an early goal or two to make room for some subs.
I would like to see both Martinelli and Nelson get some time on the pitch and perhaps also some of our defenders, Chambers, Holding etc
i mentioned this before, but for some reason when i go on this website through the facebook app comments are all missing it says theres 0 comments ..strange
i blame facebook – they must somehow be censoring the comments section.
Some issues when browsing in a different browser or incognito mode as well
3-1 score prediction!
Why not let Smith-Rowe play in the middle where he is best and let Martinelli get a start (sending Elneny to the bench)?
Good balance of strong team and good decisions on resting. Lets get the job done early and give KT a good rest in the second half.
Why is Holding in holding? Surely with West Ham up next, Luiz needs to be rested now, if in fact the early game issues Holding has aren’t yet ironed out?
Ugghhh you shoulda played martenelli
1. The ref is an idiot
2. Auba has been having an off night, but good work rate
FFS
How to make a pub team look like worldies…..
Since when is standing offside in the line of the goalkeepers view not offside?
Tottenham, oh you beauties 😁
We need to make sure that we keep odegarrd come the summer transfer market.
He is one good player