Over Confident Against Olympiacos

The Champions League is such a wonderful competition to be a part of. A collection of some of the best teams that Europe has on offer, every game feels like you're watching the upper echelon of football. The smaller teams that are a big fish in their domestic leagues, are made to look very small up against some of the heavyweights. But, they'll battle all the same and quite often a shock result will turn up. Arsenal were looking to avoid such a night as they took on the biggest team that Greece has to offer. We sort of have a special affinity with the Greek side as we always seem to play against them. Whenever our paths crossed in the Champions League, or Europa League, we were destined to take them on at some stage. We haven't had it all our own way against them and our most recent meeting proved that no matter how high we climb, they'll always be waiting to make life as tough as possible.

Arsenal began the game in total control. Martin Odegaard was the beating heart of it all and found it all too easy to play through the Greek side. Chances fell to the North London side early on with Gabriel Martinelli not quite connecting properly with a cross and sending a free header wide of the post. However, the next chance that was dished up was finished off by the Brazilian. Odegaard sent a ball through the Olympiacos defence with Viktor Gyokeres the intended target. The Swedish international muscled his way onto the ball and flashed a shot at goal, but the keeper did enough to push it onto the post. Martinelli was quick on the scene and stroked the ball into the open net. 1-0 inside 12 minutes and the football was silky, it felt as though it was a matter of how many.

But, despite the excellent football on display, it was Olympiacos that almost pulled level on the 20 minute mark. A wicked cross in evaded everyone but Daniel Podence who snuck to the side of Ben White and managed to send a volley towards the goal. David Raya produced a fantastic reflex save and pushed it over the bar. A warning of things to come. While Arsenal were busy with their half chances, Olympiacos were testing the Gunners defence with some excellent crosses. A couple of times Ayoub El Kaabi was on hand to cause chaos between William Saliba and Gabriel. Thankfully nothing quite landed how they wanted it to and Mikel Arteta's men got away with them. At the other end we saw Gyokeres sky a shot after working a good angle as well as Leandro Trossard also finding the stands with his effort.

The 2nd half was upon us and there was a growing feeling that Arsenal needed a second goal to settle the nerves. However, it was Trossard who wasted the Arsenal chances. Nothing seemed to go in for him despite being consistently found in promising zones. Chance after chance went begging and Olympiacos could sense the frustration seeping in. They pressed high and relentlessly. Arteta's men weren't being given an inch, but they were also facing some slick football that actually resulted in a disallowed goal for the Greeks. It was marginally given as offside, but still Arsenal couldn't get the second to ease the nerves. Even when a chance fell to a player that wasn't Trossard, it still wasn't going in. Odegaard received a ball across the box, from Bukayo Saka, but his effort was bravely saved. The rebound fell to our Norweigan maestro again, but the defender rescued his goalie with a block on the line. Heads were in hands, disbelief reverberated throughout the Emirates.

Olympiacos were unfazed by those quick-fire chances and decided to have a go for goal themselves. Chiquinho found some room in our box and sent a curving shot that was delicately deflected wide by Raya. However, their efforts would be for nothing as Saka finally ended the nerves. Odegaard played a fine ball through the lines and the Englishman cleverly let the ball run across his body and fired it between the legs of Konstantinos Tzolakis. The keeper perhaps should've done better, but the power generated by Saka was enough to take it through. That would be the final action of note and Arsenal ran out 2-0 victors.

I don't think the statistics do it justice how much Olympiacos troubled us. Their crosses were a mix of power and unbelievable precision that none of Gabriel, Saliba, White and Myles Lewis-Skelly could deal with. What the statistics do tell us is that Arsenal generated 2.90 xG with 11 shots, five on target and six off target. I don't normally include blocked shots within these statistics, but the block for Odegaard's shot effectively felt more like a shot on target. We also enjoyed seven big chances. Olympiacos only generated 0.5 xG, with only three shots on target and two off target. However, they did obtain three big chances within that 0.5 xG.

Player Ratings:

Raya - 8 - Ultimately I think Raya was let down by his defence as he faced shots that should've been dealt with. The Spaniard deserves an 8 just for his save from Podence. He was equal to everything that Olympiacos threw at him.

White - 6 - Much like the game against Port Vale, he doesn't look quite at it yet. He still needs time to get back up to speed, but he needs to do it fast as Jurrien Timber can't be playing all the minutes in all the games. Podence gave him some real problems and was sort of at fault for the Raya save.

Saliba - 7 - The whole defence struggled with defensive duties, but Saliba still did what he needed to do. A clean sheet is still a clean sheet.

Gabriel - 6 - Went off through an injury eventually, but didn't totally look himself out there. For someone that's so powerful in the air, we didn't really get to see that aerial domination and that's partly why we suffered from their crosses.

Lewis-Skelly - 8 - The best of the bunch from the defensive quadrant. Having fallen down the pecking order to Riccardo Calafiori, we forget how good he is. Brave in possession, an eye for a pass and much better with his crosses. He should've got an assist if Martinelli hadn't of miscued his header. A brilliant performance and a reminder of what he can offer still.

Zubimendi - 7 - I feel like Zubimendi can't drop a performance below a 7. Mr. Consistent. He does the simple things very well and keeps everything ticking over. I think sometimes he can be a touch erratic, but he's always there when you need him.

Merino - 7 - I think this was one of his better performances for Arsenal and I'm a little disappointed he got hooked. He was sticking to his defensive tasks, but expressing himself through brilliant link up play. He was smooth, silky and certainly a big reason as to why Arsenal played such attractive football in the first half.

Odegaard - 9 (MOTM) - A real return to form for him. He's had his critics recently that he almost plays too reserved, but you cannot deny how talented he is when given creative freedom. He was receiving passes all over the pitch and then having the positional awareness to turn and spray a pass to a team mate. We also got to see what a visionary he is, some of the through balls he played were sumptuous. Grabbed himself an assist too.

Martinelli - 7 - Grabbed himself a goal which adds to his fine form, but I think he'll walk away from that game with a sense of frustration. Could've had more goals, but also some of his decisions were completely wrong and I'm sure he knew it. You can't criticise him too much because he did score, but not the confidence boosting performance he would've liked.

Trossard - 6 - Missed chances aside, I actually do think he played quite well, but you can't ignore those missed chances. I think he could've easily had three, and on another night he would be the hat trick hero and Arsenal would've won 5-0. It wasn't to be and he'll be kicking himself because of it.

Gyokeres - 7 - I say it after every game, but this was his best performance yet. However, still no goals since the Nottingham Forest game. His overall game is improving and we're seeing him much more involved in the build up. Odegaard found his runs a few times and that's a starting point because we're beginning to feed him. Could've done better with a couple of his chances, but it's important he keeps up his work. The goals will come.

Substitutes:

Timber - 7 - I don't think he was incredible, I don't think he was bad, just that happy middle ground. Defended well and always a feature in our attacks.

Rice - 6 - It was a slightly error prone performance from Rice. He'll always deliver defensively, but I think when given the ball he was a touch wasteful. He also picked up a yellow card which means that one more and he's suspended for a game, not an ideal match from him.

Eze - 6 - I don't think he came on at a time that was right for his kind of game. You can tell he's full of ideas in attack, but our attacks were sparce. I did like his interchanging with Saka though, often allowing each other to pop up on opposite wings.

Saka - 8 - Much like Odegaard, Saka has really returned with fire in his belly and a quicker stride. His inventive nature was bustling and his team mates benefitted. He should've got an assist, but he did get a goal while playing wide left. It seems like maybe there's something in the pipe line for Saka and that wide left role.

Mosquera - 6 - I like Mosquera and I think he'll come good over time, but I feel like it was another shaky performance. He was beaten in the air a couple of times and just needed a bit of saving from Saliba.

That's it for this one, I hope you enjoyed the game if you watched it, if not then I hope you enjoyed the result. Up next is West Ham United at home on Saturday 4th October. 3PM kick off (GMT). Newly appointed Nuno Espirito Santo will be at the helm. Here's my line up for the game.

There's no reason why we can't go full strength. A home fixture with no fresh injury concerns, providing that Gabriel really is okay as Arteta said he was. I don't think we need to complicate things, play your best players in their best positions and the football will take care of itself. If that starting team fails then we'll still have options from the bench to switch things up. The team is going from strength to strength.