Olympiacos and Arsenal vie for second in Group F

Second place in UEFA Champions League Group F has come down to a straight contest between Olympiacos FC and Arsenal FC; a draw will be enough to put the Greek side through behind section winners FC Bayern München.

• On 29 September, Olympiacos stunned the London side with a thrilling 3-2 win at the Arsenal Stadium. They led three times with the hosts twice battling back to equalise before Alfred Finnbogason's 66th-minute strike proved decisive.

• A 3-2 victory would be good enough for Arsenal to go through on overall goal difference; in fact any win will suffice for them apart from 1-0 or 2-1.

Previous meetings
• The clubs are in the same group for the fourth time in seven seasons, having also been drawn together in 2009/10, 2011/12 and 2012/13. In each of those campaigns Olympiacos hosted Arsenal on matchday six.

• The matchday two contest broke a sequence: each of the six preceding games had been won by the home team with Olympiacos recording 1-0, 3-1 and 2-1 victories respectively in Greece.

• Three years ago, Olympiacos came from behind in Piraeus after Tomáš Rosický had put the Gunners ahead, Giannis Maniatis and Kostas Mitroglou scoring in the second half. Arsenal were already assured of finishing second in the group behind FC Schalke 04, while the Greek club were third.

• The lineups on 4 December 2012 were:
Olympiacos: Carroll, Diakité, Manolas, Contreras, Torosidis, Fejea (David Fuster 60), Maniatis, Greco, Paulo Machado (Pantelić 81), Abdoun (Mitroglou 72), Djebbour (Ibagaza 82).
Arsenal: Szczęsny, Jenkinson, Squillaci, Vermaelen, Meade (Angha 83), Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Gervinho, Rosický (Arshavin 46), Chamakh.

Match background

Olympiacos
• The Greek side, in the group stage for the 17th time, began with a 3-0 home loss to Bayern. They followed the Arsenal win with another away victory, 1-0 against GNK Dinamo Zagreb, before a 2-1 home win against the same team, but they lost 4-0 in Munich last time out.

• Last season Olympiacos finished third in Group A, completing a clean sweep of home wins in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time since 2009/10.

• Having transferred to the UEFA Europa League they were defeated in the round of 32, losing 2-0 away to FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk ahead of a 2-2 home draw.

• They began last season with a 3-2 win against 2013/14 finalists Club Atlético de Madrid in Piraeus and also beat Juventus and Malmö FF at Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis.

• Olympiacos have not been so successful when playing host to other English visitors: winning three and losing three of the nine fixtures. Overall their record is W7 D3 L15. 

Arsenal
• Apart from a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund on matchday one, Arsenal won all last season's away games in the competition but bowed out in the round of 16 for the fifth year in a row. A 3-1 home defeat by AS Monaco FC did the damage, a 2-0 away win not enough to prevent an away-goals defeat.

• The Gunners' 18th successive group stage campaign began in September with a 2-1 defeat in Zagreb. They were up against it after the Olympiacos reverse but then beat Bayern 2-0 at home, although they subsequently lost 5-1 away.

• A 3-0 win over Dinamo on 24 November put them on six points, three behind their matchday six opponents.

• They have drawn one and lost four of their last five away games in Greece. Overall their record against Greek sides is W8 D3 L6. 

• Play-offs included, Arsène Wenger's side have won seven and lost four of their last 13 away fixtures in the UEFA Champions League.

Coach and player links
• Joel Campbell was loaned from Arsenal to Olympiacos in 2013/14 and played alongside Giannis Maniatis, Roberto, Dimitris Siovas, Alejandro Domínguez and Leandro Salino.

• Campbell scored in the penalty shoot-out to give Costa Rica a 5-3 victory against Greece after a 1-1 draw in their 2014 FIFA World Cup quarter-final.

• Olympiacos players with Premier League experience: Pajtim Kasami (Fulham FC 2011–14), Esteban Cambiasso (Leicester City FC 2014/15), Ideye Brown (West Bromwich Albion FC 2014/15) and Manuel da Costa (West Ham United FC 2009–11).

• As Monaco coach, Arsène Wenger lost in the 1992/93 European Cup Winners' Cup second round to Olympiacos (0-1 home, 0-0 away). 

Match facts

Olympiacos
• Esteban Cambiasso and Omar Elabdellaoui are both within a booking of a ban.

• Olympiacos are the only team in the Greek Super League with a 100% record. Their 12th successive victory – 4-3 at Panthrakikos FC on 5 December – set a new national record for consecutive wins from the beginning of a season, breaking the one set by the club's 1966/67 vintage.

• Olympiacos have scored 11 goals in their last three games, through nine different scorers.

• Alberto Botía featured against Panthrakikos – his first game since straining his right hamstring on matchday four.

• Olympiacos triumphed 4-0 at second-tier strugglers Panegialios FC on 2 December in their second match of the Greek Cup group stage. Cambiasso opened the scoring, his first goal for the club.

• Felipe Pardo suffered a right calf injury in training on 27 November and has missed the last three games.

• Maniatis (out since 11 March, right knee) and Andreas Bouchalakis (26 August, left quadriceps) are still out.

Arsenal
• Joel Campbell and Mesut Özil are both within a booking of a ban.

• Laurent Koscielny (hip), Santi Cazorla (knee) and Alexis Sánchez (thigh) picked up injuries as Arsenal drew 1-1 with Norwich City FC on 29 November. Koscielny returned for the 3-1 home win against Sunderland AFC on 5 December.

• On 3 December it was reported that Cazorla could be sidelined until March. 

• Francis Coquelin was ruled out for three months after suffering a knee ligament injury in the 2-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion FC on 21 November.

• Theo Walcott featured against Sunderland, having been out since sustaining a calf injury in the 3-0 League Cup loss at Sheffield Wednesday FC on 27 October. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring) went off in the same game and returned as a late substitute at Norwich.

• Jack Wilshere sustained a hairline fracture to his left fibula in early August. He underwent surgery in September and is not expected to return until January.

• Danny Welbeck had a knee operation on 3 September. The England striker has not played since 26 April.