Arsenal v Olympiakos October 1st 8 PM KO

Big Willie

Mirth cheers, I'd blocked this out somehow.

Can't even remember anything about it even with that reminder.

TambourineMan

I'd like to see some rotation here. I like @Panda's line up and might even consider resting Zubimendi but we don't want to change too much either. So might consider Zubi out, but Rice in as I worry about running Zubi into the ground.

Will take a dull, uneventful 2-0 win here. No injuries, key players off at 60 mins and 6 points in the bag.

USArsenal

I watched Olympiakos play against Pafos (at home) and i have to be honest, they were awful. They could not even beat a 10 man (for the last 65 mins of the game) Pafos team that had David Luiz in the game. I would be seriously disappointed if it were not a minimum a 2 goal victory, but really, we should be easily putting 3 or 4 by them with ease.

DiabyKungFu

USArsenal I'd lower that to 0-1%

Arteta just started Chrithian Mosquera over Saliba away at Newcastle in order to manage Saliba's minutes after an injury. I don't see why starting Dowman over Saka at home against Olympiacos in order to manage Saka's minutes after an injury would be that crazy. I reckon the delta between Dowman and Saka is pretty similar to the delta between Mosquera and Saliba. The Dowman-Saka delta might be slightly bigger, but not by that much.

banduan

Myles deserves a start.

Qwiss

Panda Zubi-Merino
Odegaard

I wouldn't mind seeing that. Merino seems to be more well suited to the CL games and he's much better filling in for Rice than playing with him.

banduan yeah and Cala needs a rest or he'll break again.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert

Is Hincapié injured? I haven't seen him play at all yet (I didn't watch the end of the game vs Bilbao).

I'd rest Gyokeres and start Trossard up front.

Panda

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert Yes little groin injury according to Arteta. Hopefully back after the international break.

Pepe LeFrits

I'd go

Raya
White Saliba Gabriel MLS
Norgaard Merino
Saka Nwaneri Eze
Gyokeres

Don Pacifico

Pepe LeFrits I'd play Zubimendi and Ode personally. Don't think the former needs a rest just yet and with Nwaneri injured/Ode coming back from injury, I'd favour bringing in the latter.

Qwiss

Pepe LeFrits I can't see Arteta playing none of his first choice midfield trio in a CL game. Nwaneri should probably come in but if he does I'd guess it'll be with at least one of Rice or Zubi.

Pepe LeFrits

Is Nwaneri injured? Doh.

Don Pacifico

Pepe LeFrits to be fair, I'm only basing that on his absence from the squad yesterday.

Either way, I think it's more important for Ode to get minutes.

Sicario2

I don’t think Nathan is injured but let’s see tomorrow in the pre-game presser

est

I reckon Arteta's going to start with:

------------Raya
White-Saliba-Gabriel-MLS
--------Zubimendi
-----Odegaard-Merino
--Martinelli-Gyökeres-Eze

Then bring on Saka and move Martinelli central. Or bring on Rice and move Merino up front.

Edit: Having just written all that down, I understand that the chances of him actually not starting Saka are quite slim. Especially after taking him off against Newcastle.

flobaba

Rest Gyokeres. He's earned a break after that battle of attrition yesterday.

USArsenal

flobaba

Nah, this is the kind of game he could get a couple, would be good for his confidence.

Gurgen

I'd rotate quite heavily for this one. These guys are utter shite and our 'second string' should be able to beat them handsomely.

Pepe LeFrits

Gurgen my thinking as well. White, MLS, Norgaard and Nwaneri have some of the fewest minutes in the squad, hence I'd give them this one.

Sicario2

Gurgen it’s still CL and we should treat them with some respect. They won last min too on the weekend and will come into our game with confidence. Make changes but not wholesale changes. Bring on subs if we’re winning by a good margin of course.

I do want Dowman to get the CL record (no 15 year old has ever played in it before).

flobaba

USArsenal and when he breaks will you be happy with Merino upfront in the next month or two, pending Havertz' return? We have a squad now, so let's use it. It's a shit team in the champions league. He'll want to go, but it's the managers job to get him rested. The league campaign is more crucial at this stage and we can afford to prioritize that for now. It's a long season - he will get his goals. I'd rest him then bring him on last 20 minutes just to give him a taste.

lorddulaarsenal

——————-Kepa
White——Saliba—-Mosquera-MLS
—————-Norgaard
——-Odegaard——Merino
Martinelli—-Gyokeres——Trossard

flobaba

lorddulaarsenal swap Gyok for Trossard, let Eze start on the left. Happy with the rest of it