After pulling off an impressive comeback victory over Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday, Arsenal return to Europa League action when they take on Olympiacos.
Mikel Arteta’s side secured bragging rights in the north London derby thanks to goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette, and appear to have picked up a bit of momentum at a crucial time in the season.
And, with a 3-1 advantage to their name against Olympiacos, the Gunners look all set to progress into the next round of the competition, as they host the Greek giants at the Emirates tonight.
Should Aubameyang start tonight?
Yes!
No!
With West Ham on the horizon at the weekend, Arteta may consider freshening things up for Thursday’s game given their lead from the first leg, but it should remain a strong starting line-up.
And with that in mind, below is a look at how the Gunners might line up.
In goal, Bernd Leno will be hoping to fare better than he did in the first leg, where he played a huge part in the Gunners’ awful defensive gaffe for Olympiacos’ goal.
The defence could see one key change with Hector Bellerin coming in for Cedric, with Arteta potentially looking to rest the Portuguese man ahead of the clash against the Hammers on Sunday.
In midfield, the £200k-a-week earning Thomas Partey may find himself back on the bench after starting the past few games for the north London side – Mohamed Elneny is surely pushing for a recall, especially after his long-range screamer over in Greece.
Further forward, Nicolas Pepe has also made a good case to start, after coming on at half-time for the injured Bukayo Saka and playing the pass leading up to Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty.
And up front, Arteta may give Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the opportunity to make amends for his mistake at the weekend, which saw him dropped from the starting line-up against Spurs.
In total, the Arsenal boss could make five changes from the starting line-up against Spurs with Willian also coming in for the rested Emile Smith Rowe.
Predicted XI: Leno; Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Xhaka; Pepe, Odegaard, Willian; Aubameyang.