Olympiakos Piraeus vs Arsenal: Marco Silva wants to claim Arsenal scalp

Posted Wednesday, December 09, 2015 by PA

Olympiacos coach Marco Silva insists his side will not be sitting back against Arsenal on Wednesday night - even though the Greek champions can afford to lose and still progress in the Champions League.

Having won 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium in September, Olympiacos are in a strong position to qualify with consecutive victories over Dinamo Zagreb putting them second behind Bayern Munich in Group F.

Arsenal must win by two goals, or by 3-2 or better, to overturn Silva's side and reach the knockout stages for a 16th straight season.

Olympiacos, who have won all 12 of their league games so far this season and have only been beaten by Bayern Munich across all competitions, are now favourites to advance and Silva is not even thinking about squeaking through with a defeat.

"It is true that we have the opportunity to knock out Arsenal," he said at his pre-match press conference.

"We will fight until the end to achieve this. Never in any game, in any event, did we prepare to lose and so we will not be doing that now."

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal can take advantage of a fear of failure from Olympiacos.

"We play against a side that will be motivated but we face that every week," he said.

"Against a side that is at the moment qualified but they can lose what they have and that can create a fear factor, the best way for us to achieve it is to believe in our quality.

"Mentally, you prepare yourself to adapt to every situation and give the right response to every situation you face.

"We will have to adapt to what is happening on the pitch and to all of the scenarios, accept them and respond."

Arsenal have lost on their three previous visits to the Karaiskakis Stadium but all have come as dead-rubbers at the end of group stages where Wenger's side have long-since secured qualification.

This time around the scenario could not be more contrasting but the Frenchman has backed his team to show their quality and then rattle some cages when the knockout rounds begin in February.

"Before when we came here we had already qualified, that is not the case tomorrow night," he said.

"We just want to give absolutely everything to qualify tomorrow, if you want to jump over a hurdle you don't think what happens if you miss."