Arsenal faces Olympiacos in the Round of 16, Europa League. Arsenal had a nightmare to forget last season. The match ended 1-0 in the first leg and in the second leg, Olympiacos took a lead through Pape Abou Cissé. Both teams were 1-1 on aggregate which took the game to extra time.
Mikel Arteta's team had a breakthrough in the Emirates stadium when Aubameyang scored a scissor kick goal in the 113th minute of the match. The aggregate score was 2-1 in Arsenal's favor and Arsenal was a few minutes away from reaching the round of 16.
However, their dreams were crushed when Youssef El-Arabi scored the 119th-minute winner for Olympiacos. The match ended with an aggregate score of 2-2 and Olympiacos advanced to the round of 16 through away goals.
Fast forward a year, we have an opportunity to win back what we lost last season. An opportunity to go back to the Champions League. An opportunity for a perfect comeback. Gunners have looked stronger in recent times, especially their comeback win against Benfica in the Europa League and 3-1 win against Leicester City in the Premier League. Their last match ended in a 1-1 draw against Burnley, though Arsenal had a clear penalty ignored by VAR.
Bernd Leno will start in goal for the Gunners. Leno has been outstanding for Gunners in the goal post and Arteta will not take a risk by resting him. Cedric Soares has the highest chance of starting as the right-back
due to his impressive performance against Leicester City and he had an excellent link-up play with Nicolas Pepe on the right-wing. David Luiz and Pablo Mari could continue as center backs. They have been solid making no mistakes. Kieran Tierney, another undroppable player for Arsenal has been excellent and we could see his fighting spirit against Benfica when he smashed a goal past Helton Leite. Tierney could retain his left-back position.
Xhaka and Partey are expected to start in the midfield. Xhaka did make a mistake in the last match against Burnley, scoring an own goal. However, his previous performances have been good, and is one of the consistent players to start for Arteta's side. Gunners also have Dani Ceballos and Mohamed Elneny, who could start the game if Arteta decides to rest Xhaka.
Saka, Odegaard, and Pepe are expected to start the game with Saka and Pepe covering the left-wing and right-wing. Odegard, on loan from Real Madrid, may play as an attacking midfielder. We also have Willian, who started the last match against Burnley and provided an important assist to Aubameyang. However, Arteta could rest Willian and favor Pepe over Willian. Gabriel Martinelli is another player, who has not played a lot since returning from injury. He could be on the bench again today.
Leading the attack on the front could be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He has 3 goals in his last two matches, two in Europa league and one in Premier League. Aubameyang scored the winner against Benfica and helped the Gunners qualify to the round of 16. Lacazatte has also been in good form. However, he could mostly enter the game as a substitute in the later moments of the game.
Arsenal will look to score away goals to have an advantage in the 2nd Leg at Emirates, London.
Probable Line-Up today:
Starting Eleven: Bernd Leno, Cédric Soares, David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.
Subs: Mathew Ryan, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Gabriel, Dani Ceballos, Mohamed Elneny, Gabriel Martinelli, Alexandre Lacazatte, Willian.
