Team news update: Arsenal confirm double blow ahead of Olympiacos trip

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

Ahead of the game, the club have issues a team news and injury update on Arsenal.com to provide the latest on a number of first team players and unfortunately a double selection blow has been revealed.

Mikel Arteta will be without Mesut Ozil for the crucial first leg game due to personal reasons with the playmaker staying in north London to be present for the impending birth of his new-born baby.

Arsenal have also confirmed that Lucas Torreira won’t travel with the rest of the first team squad to Athens today due to illness. If the midfielder makes a speedy recovery over the coming hours then he could still fly out to Greece on his own but that appears unlikely at this late stage.

Calum Chambers will obviously still be unavailable as he continues to recover from a knee injury while Kieran Tierney is aiming to be back in full training later this month as he bids to return from shoulder surgery.

January signing Cedric Soares is also hoping to resume full training over the coming days after arriving from Southampton with a knee injury but Pablo Mari is in contention to make his debut against Olympiacos after building-up his fitness with a run-out for the U23’s on Monday.

The team news update on Arsenal.com said:

Calum Chambers
Left knee. Ruptured anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee during Chelsea (h) on 29 December. Successful surgery completed. Rehabilitation process expected to take between six to nine months.

Pablo Mari
Available for selection.

Mesut Ozil
Will miss Olympiacos (a) due to personal reasons.

Cedric Soares
Left knee. Progressing well with gym work. Aiming to be in full training by the end of February.

Lucas Torreira
Has not travelled on the club flight to Athens on Wednesday due to illness. Being assessed in the next 24 hours. If there is a significant improvement will fly to Athens in time for the match.

Kieran Tierney
Right shoulder. Dislocated right shoulder during West Ham Utd (a) on 9 December. Good progress being made in rehabilitation process and has commenced participation in group training sessions. Aiming to be in back in full training by the end of February.

Being without Ozil and Torreira for such a key game will be a big double blow to Arteta but it opens the door for Dani Ceballos to try and cement his place in the first team and build on his impressive display against Newcastle at the weekend.