Arsenal v Olympiakos: Gyokeres can net in 6/5 home win | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Are Olympiakos Arsenal's Champions League bogey team?

Arsenal made a winning start in the Champions League and their new striker can help them chalk up another victory on Wednesday night, says Dave Tindall...

Gunners going well

What's that phrase? "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em". So after watching Liverpool come up with a series of last-gasp winners, Arsenal have decided to follow suit and launch their own series of dramatic finishes.

Gabriel Martinelli's late lob rescued a point at home to Manchester City before two goals, the second deep into added time, saw them snatch a 2-1 victory at Newcastle at the weekend.

Doing it that way against two fellow Champions League sides is great for morale, although Mikel Arteta will hope there's no need for any nail-biting when Olympiakos come to the Emirates on Wednesday. The odds suggest he's in for a calmer 90 minutes.

Arsenal kicked off their campaign with an impressive 2-0 victory away to Athletic Bilbao and let's recall that the Gunners were impressive in the group stage last year, winning six of their eight matches, drawing another and finishing third in the 36-team group.

Poor start for visitors

Olympiakos began their Champions League return with a 0-0 home draw against Cypriots Pafos.

It sounds a tad disappointing and, in reality, was even more so given that Pafos had a man sent off after just 25 minutes. Late pressure failed to yield a winning goal.

Domestically, they've had no such trouble finding the net though. Olympiakos have 13 points out of 15 in the Greek Super League and have scored 13 times on their way to top spot.

Greeks will seek another shock against Arsenal

The odds suggest this will be routine stuff for the hosts. Arsenal are 2/11, with Olympiakos a hefty 18/1 and The Draw 11/2.

So with Arsenal so strong at the back, is this just a straightforward case of picking a scoreline of something to nil?

Well, maybe not and Gunners fans will know why.

The last time the two met at the Emirates, in March 2021, Olympikos pulled off a shock 1-0 win when Youssef El-Arabi's shot was deflected home. A season earlier, the Greeks knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League after winning 2-1 in extra-time after the game in north London had finished 1-0 to Olympiakos after 90 minutes.

Are we into bogey team territory? Maybe so as rewind to the previous time they met at the Emirates and Olympiakos caused yet another upset, running out 3-2 winners.

Arsenal supporters will point out that they won the away fixture in each of those campaigns but, as we're on Gunners territory on Wednesday night, it's those hugely surprising Olympiakos wins that will make punters more wary than they might have been.

And since those head-to-heads, Olympiakos have shown their chops in Europe.

They won the Conference League in 2024, beating Fiorentina in the final after stunning Aston Villa 6-2 on aggregate in the semis, while last season they finished seventh in the 36-team Europa League table before losing to Bodo/Glimt in the round of 16 (won home leg 2-1 but lost the away 3-0).

Arsenal relentless at home in Europe

Before we get too carried away with the idea of something strange happening again, a reminder that Arsenal have won each of their last 12 group stage/league phase home games in Europe.

The last 10 have been achieved with a clean sheet but Arsenal to win and both teams to score at 2/1 still has some appeal.

Instead, though, I'll turn to the scorer and shot markets.

Listen to Champions League matchday 2 preview

🔗 Spotify

Get with Gyokeres

It's fair to say that Viktor Gyokeres hasn't convinced everyone since his big-money summer move.

But the Swedish striker could be one to watch out for at home against weaker opposition. He netted twice in the 5-0 win over Leeds and also in the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. So far, he has three in three at the Emirates.

He scored six times in last season's Champions League, his four goals at home for previous club Sporting including a hat-trick against Manchester City.

The Gunners were ahead at the interval in both those home wins so let's go with a Gyokeres goal and Arsenal to lead at half-time which pays around 5/4.

If looking for an Olympiakos angle, the two potential scorers to focus on are Moroccan striker Ayoub El Kaabi and Portuguese midfielder Chiquinho.

El Kaabi scored 27 in 39 for club and country last year, has four in eight this season and was the joint-top scorer in last season's Europa League with seven goals.

Chiquinho netted a brace at the weekend, including a late winner, and has eight in his last 18 games in an Olympiakos shirt. They're 7/2 and 12/1 anytime, respectively.

Just to have a shot in the 1st half, Chiquinho is odds-against at 7/5  so that's worth a go.

Recommended bets