Other than Arsenal FC and Manchester City, the Premier League big six had a very rough weekend. Arsenal and City did take care of business though, and now we’ll see if they can take that positivity forward, with some momentum for midweek UEFA Champions League clashes. Arsenal will host Greek powerhouse Olympiacos while Manchester City will visit the Principality club, AS Monaco. We’ll preview the latter later on, but for now let’s do the run down, stats and metrics on the former.
Champions League Matchday 2 of 8
Arsenal FC vs Olympiacos
Kickoff: Wed. Oct. 1, 8pm, Emirates Stadium, London, UK
UCL Standing, Form: Arsenal FC 7th, 3 pts, +2 GD, W Olympiacos 35th, 0 pts, -4 GD, L
Arsenal Team News vs Olympiacos
No changes here, really. Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus remain sidelined, due to their severe knee injuries. Team captain Martin Odegaard is back while Piero Hincapie has a groin injury that is not exactly as “minor” or as much a “knock” as they seems to have conveyed.
He will likely miss out yet again here. It is funny, sometimes, to have “a knock” be something that keeps a player out for more than a few games. That’s not “minor.”
Starting XI Prediction vs Olympiacos
David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori; Martin Odegaard, Martin Zubimendi; Mikel Merino, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka; Viktor Gyokeres
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter