Arsenal vs. Olympiacos: Mikel Arteta sent Ethan Nwaneri selection message for 'chilling' Champions League tie

Arsenal vs. Olympiacos in the Champions League is a 'chilling' prospect following the Gunners' previous heartaches against the Greek giants, expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.

Mikel Arteta's men are bidding to make it two for two in the 2025-26 tournament after taking down Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in their opening Champions League clash of the season, as Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard scored and set up one another off the bench in San Mames.

In contrast, Olympiacos failed to break down a 10-man Pafos side in a 0-0 draw on matchday one, and Arsenal also enter the contest on the highest of highs following an extraordinary 2-1 comeback win over Newcastle United in the Premier League.

However, the Gunners have lost their last three home matches against Olympiacos, and Watts reflected on those "nightmare moments" while looking ahead to the Emirates encounter.

“Olympiacos, it just gives me chills," Watts said. "I’ve had some nightmare moments against Olympiacos in the past, as I'm sure every Arsenal fan will remember. It would be nice to have a really good home win on the back of the Newcastle game, just build on the momentum of that.

“Arsenal will fancy their chances, they've got to win the home games. It's the written rule of the Champions League; win your home games, pick up what you can away from home and you'll be alright. They've had a fantastic start with that win in Bilbao, and hopefully they can follow that up.”

Arsenal's torrid home record against the Piraeus side began in September 2015, when an Olympiacos outfit led by now-Fulham boss Marco Silva earned a shock 3-2 win over Arsene Wenger's men at the Emirates in the Champions League.

The Gunners then crashed out of the 2019-20 Europa League in the last 32 against Olympiacos, whom they beat 1-0 away from home in the first leg before an unforgettable night - for all the wrong reasons - in North London.

Arsenal vs. Olympiacos: Reliving Arteta's "nightmare moments"

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's extra-time bicycle kick would seemingly send Arsenal through, but Youssef El Arabi ghosted in behind the hosts' defence in the 119th minute, before Aubameyang missed a sitter with seconds remaining.

One year later, Arteta oversaw another 1-0 home loss to Olympiacos in the last 16 of the Europa League, but that result was inconsequential thanks to their 3-1 triumph away from home in the first leg.

Asked if that horrendous home record will play on his mind, Watts added: “I don't think it will play on his mind, but I'm sure he will remind the players that Olympiacos have got a history of winning at the Emirates, so you can't take them lightly.

"It's a completely different Arsenal team now. The one in 2020, the Aubameyang miss - the atmosphere inside the stadium when that went wide was like something I've not experienced before.

“The noise of just 60,000 people in disbelief at the fact he'd missed and no one could quite believe what had happened. And that just before COVID as well. I'll always remember those two games. He [Arteta] will use it as an example of that. You can't take things for granted - Olympiacos are a decent team.

“They've proven they can win at the Emirates before, but this is a completely different Arsenal team quality-wise, mentality-wise, character-wise. So I don't think they'll be bothered about that at all. They'll just take this like any other game and won't worry about the hoodoo.”

Arteta is expected to be working with an identical squad for the visit of Jose Luis Mendilibar's men on Wednesday, where Noni Madueke, Piero Hincapie, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz will watch on from the sidelines again.

The Spaniard is facing some critical selection calls in midfield in particular, after Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard came off the bench to devastating effect against Newcastle, the former heading home the leveller and the latter delivering the late corner for Gabriel Magalhaes to nod home.

Arteta sent Ethan Nwaneri message before Arsenal vs. Olympiacos

With Odegaard back in the squad after a shoulder injury, Ethan Nwaneri was left out entirely in favour of the captain and 15-year-old Max Dowman, who is being given priority over Nwaneri as an out-and-out wide option.

However, Watts is hopeful that the 18-year-old will earn some minutes on Wednesday night, where he expects Arteta to restrict himself to just a couple of alterations.

“I think there will be some changes – not wholesale changes," he added. "This is Mikel Arteta, it's Champions League, he's just not going to do it. People are expecting him to just go mad and make five or six changes - that won't happen. But maybe one or two would work out. I don't think that would disrupt the team too much.

“It'll be interesting on Odegaard. He came on quite late at Newcastle - that made me think that they're still not absolutely convinced he’s anywhere near full fitness.

“He wasn't thrown on with half an hour to go when they were losing – it was left very, very late. So maybe he'll get half an hour in this one and they'll slowly build up his minutes.

"I would like to see Ethan get some game time – I can understand him being left out against Newcastle just because of who Arsenal had on the bench - they had those central midfield options in Merino, Odegaard.

“They probably wanted a proper wide option, and they view Dowman as a wide option. They don't view Ethan as a wide option – he’s going to be playing central. It would have been tough to take for Ethan, but it'd be nice to see him get some minutes, whether it be from the start or the bench."

The visit of Olympiacos will be Arsenal's first match since William Saliba's contract extension, and Watts also explained why the 24-year-old snubbed Real Madrid to extend his stay at the Emirates until 2030.

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