Arsène Wenger has stressed that there is absolutely no margin for error, as early as the second match of their Champions League group, with Olympiakos visiting the Emirates.
Having digested a surprise defeat at Dinamo Zagreb on their first outing, and with back-to-back games against Bayern Munich up next, Wenger will not countenance anything other than three points against the Greeks tonight.
“You have to win home games if you want to qualify; it is as simple as that,” he said. “We cannot afford to drop points against anybody at home.”
The form guide is not particularly helpful in that regard. Arsenal have won only six out of their past 12 home matches in the Champions League.
“We are now in a position where we do not want to talk too much about the statistics, we just want to win our games, and I’m confident we will,” Wenger said.
Boosted
Arsenal can approach the game with their confidence boosted by a 5-2 victory at Leicester City over the weekend. Francis Coquelin has been training for two days and Wenger is waiting to assess how his knee responds, but said yesterday that “he looks all right”.
The other two defensive midfield options are injured, with both Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta suffering slight muscular problems.
“They are not big injuries. It is a question of days,” said the manager.
With Olivier Giroud suspended, Theo Walcott has another chance to continue his strong form up front, while Wenger refused to confirm whether he will pick Petr Cech or David Ospina in goal.
Team selection will not, though, be influenced by the fact that Arsenal face Manchester United at the weekend.
“We play Tuesday night, and then Manchester United is on Sunday. That is five days; no problem,” said Wenger.
Meanwhile, Olympiakos manager Marco Silva claims his side are ready to make history and pull off a shock result against Arsenal. The Greeks may have won all of their domestic matches this season, but are yet to record a victory on 12 visits to England, which include heavy losses at the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool.
Perfect home record
Arsenal beat Olympiakos 3-1 in London three years ago, maintaining their 100 per cent home record against them in recent Champions League meetings. Silva, though, believes his current squad have what it takes to recover from their opening defeat against Bayern Munich.
“We are prepared to get the best result we can. We know it will be a difficult game, how big a team Arsenal are, and respect them, but we believe in our own strengths and are ready for a strong game,” said the former Sporting Lisbon coach, who took charge in Athens in the summer.
“We are going to come here and show our best self, to show what we can do.
“We have analysed the jobs which Arsenal do well and will try not to make mistakes and match what we have done in training. If you asked people who would be the first two in the group, people would say it is Bayern and Arsenal, but football is not like this. There are no rules to say the favourites must win all of the games. . . We hope that we can change the situation in the group.” Guardian Service
