Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

Arsenal vs Olympiakos Preview: Setting a Trend of Winning

By Brian Wong

facebooktwitterreddit

Venue: Emirates Stadium

Date: Sept 29

This mid-week game is a tough one to preview. Arsenal did a fantastic job this past weekend against Leicester City, however they face a tough opponent from a country that has always given the Gunners trouble. Olympiakos are going to bring with them a tough defense and a team that will frustrate the playmakers on the field.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Arsenal have finally converted on some of their chances created, but is this a sign of things to come or an anomaly? Furthermore, is Arsenal going to be able to stop Olympiakos’ counter attack? And is Wenger going to figure out what to do with Ramsey?

Prediction: Arsenal 1-0 Olympiakos

1) Ozil will have something to do with that goal

After the first 45 minutes, my co-writers here at Pain in the Arsenal were questioning if Ozil was on the pitch. Being the huge Ozil supporter I am, I said that he has his moments, just wait. Honestly there are times in the first half of that Leicester game where I questioned myself and asked why I still supported the German.

He often looked like he was sad, bored or just didn’t care about anything going on around him. But then, Ozil woke up in the second half and produced some beautiful passes. The first one freed up Bellerin to cross the ball, the second was an assist to Sanchez. That second ball to Sanchez is why we should all have some faith in Ozil. When he stopped the flow of that attack I think we all thought Ozil made a huge mistake and was once again slowing down the pace for no reason. What followed was pure genius and touch, something none of us would have saw coming. According to Squawka.com, Ozil created 7 chances in the Leicester City game, thus making him the main creator for Arsenal.

It is because of all of that that I think Ozil will have his hands or feet in the single goal I predict Arsenal will score. Olympiakos will be physical and will frustrate everyone on Arsenal’s team, but Ozil will “pull a rabbit out of his hat” and create something out of nothing.

2) Without Coquelin, what will happen?

Both Leicester City’s goals were very reminiscent of how Arsenal use to give up goals. However, since Coquelin’s rise, Arsenal have conceded a lot less of those type of goals. Accoding to squawka.com, Coquelin has been involved in an average of 7 defensive actions per game last season. By comparison, his replacements Flamini and Arteta were responsible for an average of 4 and 2 defensive actions pre game, respectively. Coquelin’s impressive numbers are further seen through an average duels won last season of 55% whereas Flamini and Arteta were both at under 50%.

However, Coquelin’s impact is not only seen in the numbers but also through the “eye-test”. When watching him play versus Flamini, it can be seen that although both attempt to disrupt and cover opponents, Flamini is simply brushed aside too easily.

Comparatively, Coquelin always seems to either win such battles or at least make sure the opponent feels his presence. When comparing Coquelin and Arteta with the “eye-test” something else emerges, and that is Arteta’s lack of any athletic ability whatsoever.

Arteta is constantly caught grabbing opponents and pulling shirts on camera and although he gets away with many of such actions, it doesn’t mean he is slowing down his opponents. It is actually quite entertaining to watch, but only when Arsenal is winning. Coquelin is a crucial part to Arsenal’s success and if he has caught the Arsenal injury bug, we can kiss the season good bye.

3) What to do with Ramsey

More from Arsenal Match Previews

It doesn’t take an expert to realize Ramsey isn’t comfortable on the right side. It also doesn’t take a genius to realize that when Ramsey is in the game, either no one plays on the right side or Cazorla drifts out there. Either way, Arsenal is not in a good position.

Don’t get me wrong, squawka.com shows that his numbers aren’t actually all too bad. Ramsey has been contributing to defense and has created some chances. Ramsey is not a bad player, and he definitely doesn’t belong on the bench of any team.

However, he also doesn’t belong on the right side of the pitch. He belongs in the middle somewhere, making long, exciting, well-timed runs from deeper positions. If Wenger doesn’t figure this out soon, Arsenal are always going to be an unbalanced team and will suffer against better opponents who know how to exploit such a weakness.

Next: When will Calum Chambers get his chance at Arsenal?

More from Pain in the Arsenal