The Game

After getting what I believe to be a very positive result away against Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal today host Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece in what is, of course, a must-win game.

This morning I paid a visit to Arsenal’s official website to see who exactly is out injured and the list I saw is too long not to be worried ahead of our upcoming games: Theo Walcott, Gervinho, Laurent Koscielny, Sebastien Squillaci, Jack Wilshere, Yossi Benayoun, Johan Djourou, Thomas Vermaelen and Abou Diaby, that’s nine players with the list including key elements such as Jack and Thomas.

But, as Arsene Wenger said, injuries should not be an excuse as it is something that every club has to deal with. Now I don’t know if our manager actually believes what he said yesterday in the press conference as he did blame injuries when we lost to Manchester United at Old Trafford but for sure is that these players are out and we have to cope, in a way or another.

I know nothing about the Greek side but I read that they have been very poor so far this season and that is why I believe this is the perfect games for the likes of Andre Santos, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Robin van Persie, Robin because he can be rested if we take a comfortable lead in the first half.

In the other game from our group, Borussia Dortmund travel to France to face Olympique Marseille with the French side our next opposition when the Champions League returns on October 19.

And, until you wait for kick-off, check out Jeff’s concern on players burn-out considering the high number of injuries we already have this season and also why Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong will enjoy first-team action after Jack Wilshere was ruled out for five months after undergoing surgery on Monday.

As always, please do join the discussion in our chat room which will also be active after the full time whistle. You will be glad to know that from this season, to provide a better chat experience to our readers, users can be banned if they post offensive comments.

Streaming Links

For those who don’t know where to watch the game, maybe we can help, follow this link for streaming options. Links are updated before and during the match.

The Line-Ups

Arsenal

Szczesny, Sagna, Song, Mertesacker, Santos, Rosicky, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Frimpong, Arshavin, Chamakh

Subs: Fabianski, Ramsey, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Coquelin, Park, van Persie

Olympiacos Piraeus

Costanzo, Mellberg, Holebas, Marcano, Torossidis, Ibagaza, Fejsa, Fuster, Orbaiz, Djebbour, Mirallas

Subs: Coming Soon

Half-Time Thoughts and Analysis

As the chat room has grown in popularity, my half-time thoughts as well as the comments of other Arsenal fans are now being discussed in the Arsenal Interactive chat room to which you can find a link at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to join the fun and share your point of view.