Olympiacos vs Arsenal: Match preview, team news & betting tips

Arsenal will be looking to bring home a positive result from Greece in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie with Olympiacos.

The Gunners have endured a torrid season and are struggling to finish in the top four of the Premier League as they languish way down in 10th place in the table and could fall 10 points adrift of Chelsea if they beat Man Utd tonight.

Therefore, the Europa League is arguably Arsenal’s best chance of getting back in the Champions League next season and they’ll be looking to go one better having lost in last year’s final to Chelsea. The sports betting nz markets show Arsenal are 8/1 fourth favourites to win the Europa League so they are expected to deep in the competition.

Mikel Arteta has made slow progress since arriving as manager in December but things look like they are starting to click after Arsenal thrashed Newcastle 4-0 at the weekend so the Spaniard will be hoping to build some momentum.

Olympiacos is a tricky tie as it’s never easy to go to Greece where a hostile atmosphere will no doubt await the players but Arsenal are more than capable of coming away with a positive first leg result.

Team News

Arsenal will continue to be without Calum Chambers as he won’t play again this season due to a serious knee injury. Kieran Tierney has stepped-up his recovery from shoulder surgery but this game still comes too soon.

January signing Cedric Soares is still nursing a knee injury so will have to wait to make his debut while Pablo Mari built-up his match fitness with a run out for the Arsenal U23’s on Monday night.

Alexandre Lacazette is pushing for a recall after coming off the bench to score against Newcastle at the weekend while Matteo Guendouzi will hope to be back in the squad after being axed amid reports of a bust up with Arteta.

Emi Martinez could start in goal having played in each of the group stage games in the Europa League while Sead Kolasinac, Gabriel Martinelli and Lucas Torreira are all pushing for recalls.

Betting tips & prediction

Betting on football is always tricky but Arsenal have proven to be a frustrating side for many bettors this season. Wins have been hard to come by and you’d have been better off having a punt at a casino rather than back Arsenal at times. Some of the best online pokies australia offer far more tempting odds as despite their poor form, bookies usually have Arsenal priced as the pre kick-off favourites so there is little value in betting on the out-of-form Gunners.

It’s the same story in this game as Arsenal are 2/7 to qualify for the last-16 with Olympiacos a distant 5/2. Arsenal are 13/10 to win the first leg on Thursday while Olympiacos can be backed at 19/10. However, I think this game will end in a draw, which is priced at 5/2, and a 1-1 score can be backed at 11/2.