by Bulldog Drummond
It really begins to look as the dreadful run of results in home matches is well and truly over and tonight’s game gives the club a chance to take another step towards recovering our credibility at the Arsenal stadium.
Home games only…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 27 Oct 2019 | Arsenal v Crystal Palace | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 02 Nov 2019 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Nov 2019 | Arsenal v Southampton | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 28 Nov 2019 | Arsenal v Eintracht Frankfurt | L | 1-2 | Europa League |
| 05 Dec 2019 | Arsenal v Brighton and Hove Albion | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 15 Dec 2019 | Arsenal v Manchester City | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 29 Dec 2019 | Arsenal v Chelsea | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 01 Jan 2020 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 06 Jan 2020 | Arsenal v Leeds United | W | 1-0 | FA Cup |
| 18 Jan 2020 | Arsenal v Sheffield United | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 16 Feb 2020 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 4-0 | Premier League |
| 23 Feb 2020 | Arsenal v Everton | W | 3-2 | Premier League |
After four home defeats we have had four wins and a draw at home.
What’s more, normally in the Europa League we are however fairly solid at home, and last season in reaching the final we won all our home games except for a goalless home draw with Sporting.
This suggests to me we are over the worst of the bad run and normal service of a solid set of performances at home can be resumed – even against a team that is yet to be beaten this season.
And although historic results against Olympiakos are not always encouraging there is only the 2015 group stage defeat at home – which itself was turned around by a brilliant 3-0 away win just over two months later.
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Sep 2009 | Arsenal v Olympiakos | W | 2-0 | Champions League |
| 09 Dec 2009 | Olympiakos v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Champions League |
| 28 Sep 2011 | Arsenal v Olympiakos | W | 2-1 | Champions League |
| 06 Dec 2011 | Olympiakos v Arsenal | L | 3-1 | Champions League |
| 03 Oct 2012 | Arsenal v Olympiakos | W | 3-1 | Champions League |
| 04 Dec 2012 | Olympiakos v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Champions League |
| 29 Sep 2015 | Arsenal v Olympiakos | L | 2-3 | Champions League |
| 09 Dec 2015 | Olympiakos v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Champions League |
| 20 Feb 2020 | Olympiakos v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Europa League |
And there is the fact that Olympiakos have won just one of their past 12 matches in the knockout stage of major European competition, at least according to the BBC. I haven’t checked that one.
So the opposition are certainly not a walkover and the 2015 results show we can’t assume a simple victory despite winning at their place on 20 February. But they traditionally don’t do very well at this stage of an out-of-Greece experience.
The update on Kolasinac is that his injury was “significant” shoulder injury during Sunday’s 3-2 win against Everton, and Arteta has said the signs are “not very positive”, meaning that surgery could be needed and Kolasinac will then be out for the rest of the season. But fortunately, we have one very good replacement in Bukayo Saka, as we have seen, and eventually, Tierney will return as well.
Mr Arteta has been talking about routes into Europe for next season, of which winning the Europa is obviously one. (Winning the FA Cup and finishing seventh in the League are the other two). So it is positive all round.
Let’s hope so.
