Sanchez-Walcott-Ozil – Arsenal STRONGEST Possible Line Up For Olympiakos
Of all the top sides; those with real title aspirations, Arsenal tend to be underwhelming the most. Although watching the Gunners play is always pleasant to the eyes, the grandeur in their attacking style is pretty enjoyable and this gives an impression that Arsenal treat football like art and that their style should suitably take them to the top of the summit.
Arsenal always play ok most of the times when they face smaller opponents, as this is the time they put their all and stretch their legs the most. An evidential support for this claim is when they played at the King Power Stadium against Leicester on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners were facing a side that have shown no signs of relinquishing since their Premier League return last season. Arsenal did not only win that tie, but they also did it in style with a 5-2 victory over Claudio Ranieri’s side.
Meanwhile, that was not the case in their opening Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb, with the Gunners losing 2-1 to the Croatian outfit and this has now piled pressure on the game at the Emirates against Olympiakos today.
Now this is how Arsene Wenger should line up his squad for the game against the Greek side, as the Frenchman will also be keeping an eye on next weekend’s league game against Manchester United.
Goalkeeper/Defence:
Following Petr Cech’s arrival at Arsenal last season, David Ospina could have left the North London club but it appears as though Wenger has promised to play the Colombian goalie in cup games; something the former Monaco gaffer has been doing.
Ospina should have been chosen to continue in goal for Arsenal tomorrow – as he has shown he is capable to play at the highest level, after helping the Gunners reach the last eight of the Champions League last season – but the game has taken on a huge importance with Bayern Munich Arsenal’s next opponents in the competition, maybe Cech would be the better option to mount the goal post tonight.
Mathieu Debuchy’s performances have been below par this season and he was abysmal against Zagreb and also Spurs last midweek. Hector Bellerin has taken his spot in the team and should continue to play at right-back, with Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal forming the other three members of the back-four.
Midfield:
Wenger has a huge problem now as regards selection in the engine room of the team. Regular defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin is out injured and missed the Leicester game. Mathieu Flamini, who has come in, in his countryman’s absence has also been sidelined with an injury, so is Mikel Arteta.
Aaron Ramsey has been deployed on the right side of midfield so far this season due to the brilliance of Coquelin and Cazorla in central midfield. The Welshman could now be returned to the DM position, although he is attack-minded. Ramsey’s unflagging prowess should be enough to create cover for the back-four.
In the more advanced roles, there is the need for Mesut Ozil to start alongside Alexis Sanchez, who is in fine form after bagging a hat-trick against Leicester at the weekend. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could come in to the right-side of the midfielder and should use this opportunity to regain his form, as the England midfielder has been poor this term.
Attack:
There is always this debate about who should lead the line for the Gunners between Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, but there sure won’t be one tonight at least as the French striker was red-carded against Zagreb and so will not be available for Olympiakos.
Should Walcott put up a brilliant display against the Greek outfit, Wenger could consider starting the pacey Englishman against Man United next weekend.