Arsenal will face Olympiacos in the first-leg of the UEFA Europa League round-of-32 tie at the Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday night and will be expecting a hostile reception in Athens.
The Gunners will be coming in this match relatively high on confidence after securing a much-needed 4-0 win against Newcastle United in their last match in the Premier League.
Overall, Arsenal’s record since Mikel Arteta took over has been pretty decent, where they have suffered just one defeat and secured four wins along with five draws in 10 matches in all competitions.
However, this will be the first time when the North London-based club will be taking the field under the Spaniard in European competition.
Arsenal were placed in the Group F during the round-robin stage where they finished on the top with 11 points, two clear of second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.
On the team news front, as per Goal.com, star striker Alexandre Lacazette is likely to start after scoring his first goal since December in the win over Newcastle and young Eddie Nketiah is also likely to feature in the starting XI as well.
The teams have met eight times before and each have managed to register four victories.
However, in the last meeting at the same venue on December 9, 2015, it was the Gunners who came out on top with a 3-0 margin, courtesy a stunning hat-trick from Olivier Giroud.
Arsenal fans have slim hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four this season and the Europa League presents another opportunity to make it into the continent’s top tournament next season.
The Gunners missed the chance to qualify for the Champions League last season after they were beaten by Chelsea in the Europa League final.
Realistically, for Arsenal to start to compete with English football’s top teams again, a regular place in the Champions League is a prerequisite.
