Arteta changes formation, Pepe and Auba start: Confirmed Arsenal XI vs Olympiacos

Photo by Eurokinissie/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Arsenal take on Olympiacos this evening with one foot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League already.

The Gunners dominated the first-leg and secured a 3-1 victory. We have a two goal cushion and three away goals in the bank, but there is still work to do to finish what we started last week in Greece.

Mikel Arteta will be wary of what happened last year against the same opposition. He has made a few changes, but the core of the team is fairly similar to the team he put out last Thursday.

Arteta has named an unchanged back five.

Bernd Leno keeps his place in goal behind a four-man defence of Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhaes and Kieran Tierney.

Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images

Granit Xhaka starts in front of them and the Swiss international is joined by Dani Ceballos and Mohamed Elneny. The formation change is predictable considering that we are defending our lead from the first-leg, but all three of them need to have a solid game.

Emile Smith Rowe keeps his place on the left-wing after a phenomenal display against Tottenham on Sunday. The Englishman caused havoc in Spurs’ defensive third last weekend along with Tierney, and Arteta will be hoping that he does the same again.

Nicolas Pepe comes in for the injured Bukayo Saka and the Ivorian deserves his chance. He has been brilliant recently when he has come off the bench, and a good performance this evening will give Arteta some selection headache ahead of the weekend.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads the line after facing Arteta’s wrath on Sunday. The Arsenal boss revealed that the issue has been resolved positively and the pair have moved on from whatever happened a few days ago.

Photo by Vasilis Sykas/MenReporterMedia/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Auba hasn’t been in bad form over the last few weeks but he will be hoping to make his mark. A good display against Olympiacos will make everybody forget what happened at the weekend when we battered Tottenham.

Arsenal XI vs Olympiacos: Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kieran Tierney; Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny; Emile Smith Rowe, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Substitutes: Maty Ryan, Arthur Okonkwo, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Cedric Soares, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Reiss Nelson, Gabriel Martinelli, Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah.

Come on you Gunners!

Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Have something to tell us about this article?

Shamanth is a professional football journalist from Bangalore, India. Shamanth is highly opinionated about the game and has been a passionate Arsenal supporter for the better part of the last two decades.