Arsenal take on Olympiacos in the Europa League on Thursday and the Gunners go into this match with mixed feelings.
While Arsenal did pick up a solid win in their previous Premier League campaign beating Everton with a scoreline of 3-2 but at the same time, their defence once again looked fragile and there’s every chance that Olympiacos could knock a few past them.
And according to pundit Charlie Nicholas, the manager needs to make some key selection decisions in order to ensure that his team does not slip up against the Greek side.
The pundit told Sky Sports: “I do not think this is a certain win for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta will sit and read into the fact that they let in two against Everton. Bernd Leno gets Arsenal out of a lot of holes but he did slip up for the second goal.
“Joe Willock and Alexandre Lacazette will come in I think. You have to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in for his goals.
“Will Nicolas Pepe get another run? Probably. Does he deserve it? Probably not. I would probably look at Gabriel Martinelli.
“The game against Manchester City has been postponed as they are in the Carabao Cup final, which means Arsenal can go at it and get into the last 16.
“You can still see the mess at the back, but Arteta will change things again. Sokratis Papastathopoulos may come in, while Hector Bellerin may drop out.
“You have to play Bukayo Saka at the back. This side has got its attacking side back and got its mojo back in that respect.”
Verdict on Arsenal selection:
Aubameyang scored two goals on Sunday against Everton so it will really need something significant to convince the Arsenal boss to drop him to the bench.
And as far as Nicolas Pepe is concerned, the manager might also want to keep him in his starting line-up since the winger can produce a bit of magic out of nothing.
Having said this though, if Pepe cannot live up everyone’s expectations then surely the manager will not hesitate to bring in Martinelli in place of the former Ligue 1 star.
