Arsenal vs Olympiakos, UEL Round of 16 Second Leg Preview

Arsenal vs Olympiakos, 

UEL Round of 16 Second Leg Preview

By Stephen Kountourou,

I'm going to start this week by talking about mountain climbing, trust me it will make sense. To climb a large steep slope is a huge challenge for anyone and takes sheer grit, determination and a never give up attitude and once you reach the pinnacle of the Mountain you can look back and admire all the hard work you have gone through to get there. That is what Olympiakos face when the team travels to North London, where they will have the fight of their lives to turn the tie against an Arsenal side that is 1-3 up on aggregate and have three away goals. 

This requires Thrylos to win away 0-3 to turn the tie on its head and not allow the Gunners to score in their own backyard. Is a turnaround possible? Well I will attempt to answer that question this week's the Europa League Round of 16 second leg preview, highlighting the first leg in Piraeus, how both teams performed in their respective domestic leagues over the weekend and update the injury list which seems to be mounting for the Greek champions. 

Last Time in the Europa League….

Last Thursday night was met with great anticipation from both sets of supporters. For Gunners fans it was the chance to get some revenge for last season's exit at the hands of Olympiakos at the Round of 32 stage. For Thrylos it would be an opportunity to get the physiological edge over their Premier League side and claim their first win against Arsenal at home for the first time since 2013. There were question marks over the fitness of Ousseynou Ba with hours to go until the lines ups were released and at first it looked as though all was well as Thrylos released their starting line up and Ba was present. It transpired with thirty minutes to go however that the Senegalese defender would not be available after all and with only one fit defender in Sokratis, defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila dropped into the back four a huge blow before the match had even begun. 

 

The first ten 30 minutes saw Arsenal dominate proceedings with a number of shots either going wide or being well saved by Jose Sa as Thrylos struggled to create any meaningful movements with no connection between the defence and midfield with no M'Vila further up the pitch. Eventually the Gunners found their breakthrough in the most speculative of ways. Norwegian international Martin Ødegaard picked up the ball from Thomas Partey from just outside the box and curled in a fantastic strike which caught Sa unawares to make it 0-1 to the Gunners. After going behind Olympiakos began to pressure their opponents more and were given a huge chance to equaliser five minutes from half time as Masouras took the ball from David Luiz but rather then passing to a free El Arabi in the box attempted a shot that went well wide. 

 

The second half saw a number of key changes, with Jose Holebas and Kostas Fortounis replacing Oleg Reabciuk and Mathieu Valbuena respectively which was a big factor in the second half starting more brightly for Pedro Martins men. From that point Olympiakos were the side beginning to pressure Arsenal who seemed to be content to sit back and defend their lead a point rather go and attempt to double it. One of the huge turning points had to be the surprising substitution of Thomas Partey who was replaced by the less defensive minded Dani Ceballos. 

With the Spanish midfielder on the pitch for only three minutes he and goalkeeper Bernd Leno missed a pass which resulted in El Arabi stealing the ball and powering it past the out of position shot stopper to make it 1-1 and bring Thrylos back level. Just ten minutes later Olympiakos spurned another golden opportunity to go ahead as substitute Lazar Randjelovic put in a low cross which found El Arabi who shot towards the bottom right corner only for Hector Bellerin to deflect it wide.

 

Eventually another momentum shift occurred in the game when El Arabi was subbed off for Ahmed Hassan with just over ten minutes of normal time to go. I highlight this as a turning point in the game as the gunners seemed more invigorated at the departure of the Moroccan striker and pressed Thrylos for a winner. Two minutes later, the Greek champions greatest weakness over the past few months came back to haunt them as Willian delivered a cross from a corner which found the leaping head of Gabriel and looped over Jose Sa into the goal to make it 2-1 to Arsenal. After a brief check by VAR due to Gabriel taking down Yann M'Vila in the process of heading the ball into the back of the net, it was eventually confirmed as a goal. A tad hard done by on Olympiakos point of view but ultimately the correct decision.  

The third and final game changing moment came between the 82nd and 85th minutes when Mohamed Elneny joined the fray at the expense of assist provider Willian. Having only just been subbed, the Egyptian midfielder unleashed a fantastic strike that Sa once more could not keep out and the most unlikely of goal scorers made it 1-3 to Arsenal and more crucially, with three away goals putting the tie almost certainly out of reach for a despondent Olympiakos. 

How Both Teams Performed Domestically

Arsenal

The Gunners, off the back of their victory over Olympiakos, travelled back to the Emirates Stadium to host North London rivals Tottenham. Much like the build up to their Europa League tie with the Piraeus side, Gunners fans were nervous at the prospect of facing an all firing front three of Son, Kane and Bale. It would be Arsenal that started the brighter of the two teams however as Emile Smith Rowe saw an early shot beat Hugo Lloris only to cannon off the post before it was cleared by Davidson Sanchez. 

After Son pulled up injured and was subbed off for Eric Lamela, the Argentine midfielder would score a fantastic Rabona goal after just over ten minutes on the pitch, breaking the deadlock and putting Spurs ahead. After this there seemed to be a reaction from Mikel Arteta's men and they continued to find an equaliser before half time. With the first half coming to a close, Kieran Tierney put in a cross which found Martin Ødegaard who's shot took a slight deflection off of Alderweireld but still found the bottom corner to draw level with their London rival and give the Norwegian Number ten his first Premier League goal.

 

The second half started and stayed with Arsenal on the front foot, hardly giving Spurs any opportunity to great anything. A couple of minutes past the hour mark, Lacazette took a shot in the box only to be fouled after the shot was taken by Davidson Sanchez. The referee pointed to the spot and was awarded a penalty. The Frenchman stepped up and put the ball past his compatriot in Lloris to put Arsenal ahead. After this Spurs actually started to find their footing after going 2-1. They were dealt another huge blow however when Lamela who was already on a yellow card received a second and was sent off putting the lillywhites down to ten men. After Harry Kane headed in a goal from an offside position and the England captain rattled the cross bar late on from a free kick it would be the Gunners that emerged victorious in the North London derby.

 

Olympiakos

 

After the defeat in Piraeus on Thursday night, Thrylos travelled to Northern Greece where they played the final game of the regular season against league strugglers Larissa. As expected Pedro Martins fielded a rotated team for the most part with Sokratis and M'Vila remaining as the centre back pairing. The game started slowly for the Greek Champions as the Crimsons started the brighter of the two sides. Eventually Olympiakos grew more into the match and eventually won a penalty through striker Hassan who took the spot kick himself and converted past the half hour mark to make it 1-0 to visitors. Sadly the Egyptian striker pulled up injured and was forced off for Giorgos Masouras. 

 

After the start of the second half Thrylos started to really dominate proceedings and were able to double their lead, after a shot was parried out by Larissa goalkeeper Gergely Nagy, only for the ball to land at the feet of Androutsos to make it 2-0. It was also nice to see young academy graduate Vasilis Sourlis come on mid way through the second half. As the game reached its conclusion Masouras found himself in the box with El Arabi free next time and unlike against Arsenal he did square it the Moroccan striker to make it 0-3 to Thrylos and put the game to bed. Larissa did get themselves a consolation through a corner as Marko Nunic made it 1-3. By then it was too late for AEL despite their best efforts and Olympiakos finished the regular season strong with a win. 

Injuries and Suspensions

Arsenal

 

For the most part, the Gunners have a fully fit squad coming into the second leg. The biggest doubt currently is Bukayo Saka who has a possible hamstring injury and is unlikely to feature this Thursday.

 

Olympiakos

 

Thrylos on the other hand has a seemingly mounting injury list. Along with Avraam Papadopoulos and Ruben Semedo all of which are still out for this upcoming game, Ahmed Hassan as said before pulled up injured after scoring the penalty against Larissa and will be unavailable. Mathieu Valbuena is probably the biggest loss for this coming fixture as he has adductor problems and is ruling him out of travelling with the squad. There is some light at the end of the tunnel however, as Ousseynou Ba is fully fit according to Pedro Martins as is Marios Vrousai. Both players will travel with the squad to North London.

 

Prediction 

To finish this preview, I will be completely honest, it is highly unlikely Olympiakos will overturn the defecate win 3-0 on the night and advance to the quarter finals of the Europa League. Arsenal's 3rd goal in Piraeus might have already been the nail in the coffin that sealed Thrylos fate. Having Ba back in the back four and M'Vila returning to the midfield will be a huge plus for the Greek champions if they do have any chance of competing with the Arsenal but I also believe that this tie hinges on whether Mikel Arteta's men and the coach himself, takes the second leg seriously and attempts to end the tie asap or assume they are through already and take the first legs result for granted. That could be the turning point. 

 

Olympiakos essentially have nothing to lose and they need to put away the chances that Arsenal, who are still performing questionably at the back, will likely give away. An early goal for Thrylos would be a huge physiological boost and could be the catalyst for a comeback. Let's be realistic though. Do I think this comeback is possible, sadly no. But that does not mean I believe that Olympiakos should be underestimated as that is the clubs greatest strength in Europe over the last few seasons. sides who believe that the Piraeus side will just roll over and give up have been punished in the past and Arsenal are more than aware of that after what happened last campaign. I shall remain pessimistic however and say that it will be 2-1 to Arsenal and Olympiakos bow out of Europe with the domestic double still very much on the cards.

Hellas Football 

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