The Gunners are entering this clash with positive thoughts, as they were able to outplay Olympiacos in their first match with a 1:3 result, playing back in Greece.
Logically, they opted for a more aggressive approach from the start, using the quality gap in the best possible manner, and scored their first one in the 34th over Odegaard. In the second part, the home side managed to respond with an equalizer in the 58th after a huge mistake made by the visitors, but that setback had no impact on Gunner’s morale.
They took the lead once again in the 80th over Gabriel, while only five minutes later Elneny scored a beautiful goal and removed all questions about the winner if there were any at all.
Offensive midfielder Saka (24/5) is doubtful and should be the only injury worry for the Gunners.
The Greeks will have to do much better in the second leg if they want to have even a small chance for a comeback, but that thing is highly unlikely.
As mentioned, they were completely outplayed a week ago at home, not being in a position to be more competitive against far superior Arsenal. They did manage to put one to the scoreline, but they were practically gifted with a perfect chance.
Besides that, the Greeks didn’t show much in this clash, and conceding three in total wasn’t that surprising considering how they appeared. A difficult job is in front of them on Thursday evening, and we will see if they can do any better this time.
Central defender Papadopoulos (3/0) is injured, as well as central defender Semedo (22/1), and offensive midfielder Vrousai (11/2). Central defender Ba (16/1) is doubtful.
Another confirmation
The Gunners did what was needed in the first leg and now should only confirm the quality gap that exists between these two. The Gunners are in a decent momentum and even if they rotate the team a bit, they should be able to win convincingly against a side that traditionally plays far weaker on the road in Europe.
