Because of the difficult situation Arsenal find ourselves in going into the final game of the group stage, there is no margin for error. The Gunners do not have to worry about what happens with the other two clubs, we just need to win against Olympiacos.
And because of the way things are decided if two clubs are tied on points, the task ahead of Arsenal is even more clear, to score goals and try to win by two or to win and score at least three times. Although this is a tough task in the cauldron of their stadium, it also makes our approach a simple one.
It is clearly a big blow to have no Alexis Sanchez for the game but at least Arsene Wenger’s striking options have been boosted by Theo Walcott and his own return off the injury list. While some Arsenal fans might want the boss to start the England flyer instead of the big Frenchman I think he has to start with both of them.
Unfortunately for Theo that means a place on the right flank although with Arsenal needing goals you would expect us to be the proactive side while the Greeks will try to be solid and hard to break down and that sort of game suits the talents of Giroud at centre forward more than the pace and movement of Walcott.
The Arsenal manager has already spoken about the need for us to go for it and grab the initiative, as reported by the Arsenal website, so will that mean both our front line strikers starting? If so who will be the third forward and will they have enough to get the goals to take us into the next phase?