Arsenal vs Olympiakos – Preview

Arsenal take on Greek champions Olympiakos at home in the second game of their Champions League group. The two sides will know each other well, having played each other in the group stages of this competition in both the 2009/10 and 2011/12 seasons.

Last season, Arsenal won the home game against Olympiakos 2-1, with goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos enough to see off the Greeks, despite a goal by David Fuster. In September 2009, the Gunners beat them 2-0, thanks to two late goals from Robin Van Persie and Andrei Arshavin.

In team news, Jack Wilshere made his return to football yesterday in the under-21’s 1-0 loss to West Brom after 14 months out. Emmanuel Frimpong also played after his lengthy lay off. Mikel Arteta has an ankle injury and missed training today. He is due to have a test tomorrow morning and they will make a decision as to whether to include him in the squad or not. Abou Diaby has a thigh strain that he picked up in the game against Chelsea last weekend, he is out for 3 weeks. Wojciech Szczesny is out injured and will be for 2 or 3 more weeks, so expect to see Vito Mannone in goal still.

Arteta has an ankle problem and will be a game time decision.

Tomas Rosicky is still around 2 weeks away and Bacary Sagna has returned to first-team training after both have had long-term injuries. Lukasz Fabianski is also still out with a shoulder problem.