Olympiakos vs Arsenal, UEL Round of 16 First Leg Preview

Olympiakos vs Arsenal,

UEL Round of 16 

First Leg Preview


By Steve Kountourou



As the Europa League returns for the Round of 16, so too does the fixture that never seems to go away, Olympiakos vs Arsenal. One of the most and least anticipated fixtures of the season so far, depending on which team you support, this clash should be just as exciting as it has been in the previous ten matchups between the two sides. It also raises a few very burning questions. Who will emerge victorious and progress to the quarterfinals? Will the Greek champions reach the heady heights of the last eight for the first time since the 1998/99 Champions league season? Will Arsenal defeat their demons from last season's shock loss at the hands of Yussef El Arabi's winner? How do the Gunners and Thrylos keep drawing each other in European competition? I cannot answer most of these, but I can preview this upcoming clash in this week's blog, taking a look at how both sides performed over the weekend, any injuries and suspensions and round the whole thing off with a prediction that will probably be wrong. 


How Both Sides Performed Domestically


Olympiakos 



Olympiakos played their penultimate match of the regular season against relegation battling Lamia. Despite the importance of the first leg tie against Arsenal just around the corner, Pedro Martins decided to field a full strength team with the aim of killing the game off early and then make the necessary changes at half time to rest key players. The plan of the Portuguese coach was almost seamless. Within the first ten minutes, Thrylos found themselves 2-0 with the first from Bruma with a nice set up from Fortounis, before the Greek international too scored, doubling his sides lead and already putting the game to bed before it had even fully begun. 

 

The Greek Champions continued to dominate proceedings against the Kyanolefki, hardly letting their opponents see any of the ball, even well defending the occasional set piece which was a nice change. Midway through the first half however, many Thrylos supporters' hearts were in their mouths as Ousseynou Ba went down in his box and surfaced seemingly with some discomfort in his lower back and was quickly subbed off at the 18th minute as Tiago Silva came on. Yann M'Vila moved into centre back for the remainder of the game. Just over half an hour played in the first half and the game was killed off completely when Oleg Reabciuk put in a delightful cross which found the head of El Arabi to make it 3-0. As the second half progressed Olympiakos were comfortable to keep possession, take the foot off the gas and Martins made the necessary changes to rest key players and the match ended at a very comfortable 3-0 to Thrylos. 


Arsenal


The Gunners, after the convincing win over Leicester City the previous weekend travelled to Turf Moor to face Premier League tough nuts Burnley. Things seemed to be going according to plan at first as Willian made a nice delivery to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who, after a couple of step overs powered the shot past Nick Pope to make it 1-0. After a couple of close missed chances for Arsenal, Burnley found an equaliser basically out of nothing when a huge mistake from Granit Xhaka, who attempted to pass the ball to a teammate in his own box slammed into the body of Chris Wood and bounced past Leno to make it 1-1. During the second half Arsenal had a hat full of chances but were unable to convert. 

 

The biggest controversy came in the latter stages of the game, when it looked as though Burnley defender Eric Pieters committed a handball offence in the box and rather than awarding a penalty it was waved away by VAR. The Gunners continued to squander a few more huge chances going into the final innings of the match with Dani Ceballos rattling the post at the death and unable to give his side the late winner and the match finished a disappointing 1-1 for The Arsenal.   


Injuries and Suspensions


Olympiakos

 

As far as Olympiakos are concerned, there are a couple of key players missing ahead of this clash. Ruben Semedo is still out and will most likely miss both legs of the Round of 16 tie with Arsenal. Avraam is a doubt as he has not featured on any of the squad lists as of late maybe things could change with him. Marios Vrousai is unavailable as he is recovering from the injury he sustained a couple of weeks ago. The big positive is that Ba will be fit for Thursday's game after coming off against Lamia for precautionary reasons.

 

Arsenal 


As far as I am aware there are no real injury issues for the Gunners although talented number ten Emile Smith Rowe was a doubt at first he seems to be available for his sides journey to Piraeus.  


Final Thoughts and Predication


Much like the first game against PSV, the home leg in Piraeus is crucial for Olympiakos to have any hopes of ultimately progressing to the quarter finals, but they must tread carefully. Arsenal are not the same team as last season, while they have been inconsistent when they turn it on, run riot on the attacking front and punish any mistakes Thrylos may commit in pressured situations. The other factor that Pedro Martins men have to be aware of is that many Gunners fans and the team consider this to be a grudge match and they are out for revenge, after the way in which they were knocked out of the Europa League last season. The Gunners also see this as their last chance to win a trophy this campaign as they are out of both domestic competitions and qualifying for Europe next season may hinge on the Europa League rather than via a league position. 


The way to punish Arsenal would be to set up as we did in Europe previously, and I can't believe I am actually saying this, but the 4-3-3. Sitting deep and allow Arsenal to attack, regain possession and counter fast in the spaces left behind. Also the defence has to be fully focused this game, as the individual errors that led to Zahavi scoring all of PSV's goals in the previous tie was almost costly. The same cannot happen against Aubameyang, Saka and co although I would hope Sokratis will want to prove himself to Mikel Arteta, his former manager. I am going to go with my heart on this one and predict that Olympiakos win the first leg 2-1 and take a slim victory to North London in the second leg.         


Hellas Football 


Follow @stevekountourou


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