Arsenal vs Olympiacos preview | Confirmed team news | Expected Line-up | Prediction

Arsenal welcome Olympiacos to the Emirates this evening for the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie. 

The Gunners put one foot in the last-16 of the competition after coming away with a vital 1-0 victory from the first leg in Athens with Alexandre Lacazette scoring the all-important winner inside the final 10 minutes.

Mikel Arteta will be confident his side can finish the job on home soil tonight but the Spanish coach will be warning against any complacency as the Europa League has become a key priority for the north Londoners this season.

Arsenal maintained their unbeaten run in 2020 with a hard fought 3-2 win over Everton at the weekend but we remain ninth in the Premier League table – seven points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.

Therefore, it’s going to be extremely difficult for Arsenal to finish in the top four this campaign so winning the Europa League is arguably our best chance of getting back in the Champions League next season so we can’t afford any slip ups tonight.

Team news

Arsenal have been dealt a blow ahead of the game as Sead Kolasinac has been ruled out with a ‘significant’ shoulder injury that forced him off during the first half against Everton at the weekend.

Kieran Tierney is back in full training but he’s lacking match fitness having spent the last three months out with a dislocated shoulder while Calum Chambers won’t play again this season after undergoing knee surgery.

Cedric Soares is still nursing a knee injury that he was carrying when he arrived from Southampton in January so Arteta will be without four defenders for the game this evening.

The Gunners coach could freshen things up with the likes of Sokratis, Bukayo Saka, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, Alexandre Lacazette and Gabriel Martinelli all pushing for recalls.

As for Olympiacos, they’ll be without Ruben Semedo as the defender is suspended.

Expected line-up

Predicted score

Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos: Arsenal are starting to find some consistent form under Arteta and we should be confident of getting the positive result we need at the Emirates tonight to book our place in the next phase. Olympiacos showed in the first leg they can be a dangerous side at times but they’ll be a different team away from home and Arsenal should have too much for them with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in great form.

We’ve won three of our last four home meetings with the Greek outfit and have progressed in each of our last 17 European ties after winning the first leg away from home so the stats favour Arsenal tonight. I’m backing the boys to secure a 2-0 win to ease into the last-16.