by Ian S. Palmer
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The Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Piraeus, Greece will be the site of a huge European Champions League clash this Wednesday, December 9 when English Premier League side Arsenal visits Olympiakos. Both teams have a shot at advancing to the group-of 16 stage with a win as second place in Group F is still up for grabs. The home side can also advance with a draw, but it won’t be enough for the Gunners. Reigning German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich has already clinched the group and a spot in the next round. These two sides met each other at the Emirates Stadium in London with Olympiakos leaving town with all three points on a 3-2 triumph.
Olympiakos vs Arsenal – Pinnacle SOCCER BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle lists Arsenal as the current favorites at 2.080 with Olympiakos 1.862 and a draw at 3.870
- Total Goals Scored – Over 2.5 and 3 – 2.010, Under 2.5 and 3 – 1.909
Arsenal can advance with a 3-2 win as they’ll end up with a better goal difference or any win as long as it’s not 2-1 or 1-0. This is the fourth time Arsenal and Olympiakos have been in the same group in the past seven Champions League campaigns. The home team won all of their previous six games until Olympiakos won in London this season. Olympiakos won their home outings 2-1, 3-1 and 1-0 in the previous three meetings. This is the 17th time the Greek side has played in the Champions League and even though they won all three of their home matches last season they failed to advance.
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Bayern Munich leads Group F with 12 points while Olympiakos sits in second with nine. They have three victories and two defeats, but a negative goal difference since they’ve scored six times and allowed 10 against. Arsenal is currently in third spot with six points from three wins and a pair of losses. They’ve scored nine times and have conceded 10. Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia occupies the basement with three points and don’t have a shot at advancing to the knockout round.
Olympiakos has a good record against Arsenal, but has had problems when hosting other English teams. They have three wins, three draws and three defeats at home against English sides and overall they have seven wins, three draws and 15 losses to them. Arsenal is playing their 18th straight Champions League season and has lost both of their away fixtures this year to Zagreb and Bayern Munich. The Gunners have a draw and four losses in their past five visits to Greece. However, overall they have eight victories, three draws and six defeats against Greek teams. In their last 11 Champions League road games overall, including the playoff rounds, Arsenal has seven wins and four losses.
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Olympiakos has won all 12 of their Greek Super League games this season to set a new national record. Their last outing was a 4-3 win over Panthrakikos on the weekend. They’ve scored 11 goals in their past three matches with nine players finding the back of the net. They could be without Felipe Pardo, Maniatis and Andreas Bouchalakis for this week’s encounter against Arsenal. Meanwhile, the Gunners were 3-1 winners at home over Sunderland on the weekend. As usual, they have a long injury list which includes defender Kieran Gibbs, midfielders Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere along with forwards Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck.
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