Arsenal needs a win on Wednesday, and advancing to the Champions League knockout round has as much to do with Europe as it does with ending the domestic drought and winning the Premier League. “We already played against Olympiacos at Emirates Stadium”.
Advertisement
Jose Mourinho’s job could be on the line when Chelsea host Porto and former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has urged the Londoners not to jettison their manager even if the result goes against them.
“Overall if you look at the numbers since the start of the group stage, we have played with 10 men in Zagreb, we scored an own goal at home to Olympiacos, every single game we were a bit unlucky but if we get through we will be unsafe that is for sure”.
Arsenal can win anywhere in Europe according to manager Arsene Wenger who issued a rallying call ahead of Wednesday’s make-or-break Champions League decider against Olympiakos Piraeus. Secondly it puts us in an interesting position again and that’s all positive.
It was unclear at that point whether Cazorla would require an operation but, speaking after the 3-1 win over Sam Allardyce’s Black Cats, Wenger revealed the player had gone under the knife.
It is Arsenal’s fourth visit in seven seasons and each time the game has come on Matchday Six.
Aaron Ramsey is a reassuring presence in midfield to ensure the visitors control the most important area of the field.
For Olympiakos the match is being billed by the local media as a defining moment in a breakthrough year for Portuguese coach Marco Silva. They have given themselves a chance, but delivering a knockout blow to Olympiakos on home soil will be very hard indeed.
“Personally the record means a lot because it’s important for the club and for the players”. Without the assured performance of goalkeeper Petr Cech, Arsenal would never have won that match. Otherwise, it’s the Europa League for them.
Artistic midfielder Santi Cazorla has undergone knee surgery, while Francis Coquelin is unable to play in his defensive midfield role resulting from a knee ligament drawback.
Advertisement
Nigerian forward Brown Ideye who last season played for West Bromwich Albion and joined Olympiakos in the summer, believes that his team has to score goals to keep Arsenal at a distance. This certainly does not bode well for the Gunners and the fact that they already beat Arsenal will certainly give them the boost they need. I don’t like to push players who are reluctant to play games. I have a good relationship with him. The squad that was out there for Sunderland – the good news is that we won and that we don’t have any injuries.
