Liverpool suffer another late lapse to slip to defeat at Anfield, while Wenger’s younglings also taste defeat but do him proud in Greece. The results were academic – the night was all about the return of Torres and another chance to see Aquilani as he slipped deeper into Alonso’s boots before the two sides meet at Anfield on Sunday. Here’s some Scout Notes on last night’s proceedings…
Predictably Wenger went with a young side against Olympiacos. In fact we saw the youngest team ever take the field in the Champions League. Silvestre captained the side in defence, while Song, suspended last weekend, started in the holding midfield role. Aside from that pair, and the returning Theo Walcott, it was a unfamiliar looking Arsenal lineup. Aaron Ramsey is a name we are becoming more familiar with as the weeks roll by and he was the star perfomer on the night – often providing Fabregas-like prompting and inspiration from midfield.
Song and Silvestre both look set to feature in Sunday’s clash with Liverpool. The latter’s involvement looks assured given injury doubts to Gallas and Traore, while Song will surely be restored to the holding role. That could see Ramsey dropped to the bench; harsh but likely given that Denilson and Fabregas are set to complete the midfield. There is also talk of Diaby being available after injury. Walcott and Eduardo could also be in contention for starting roles, although I’d expect to see Arshavin down the middle with Nasri and Eboue (also a slight injury doubt) either side.
As for Liverpool – Rafa started with Agger and Skrtel as his central defensive pairing last night; Darby and Inusa at full-back. Cavalieri was in nets, handing Reina a rest. Dossena started on the left of a midfield that included Mascherano, Benayoun and Aquilani with Gerrard pushed up in support of Kuyt who led the line. Torres started on the bench but saw action with just over 20 minutes left to go.
The lineup against Arsenal will see recalls for Reina, Johnson, Carragher and possibly Aurelio. Riera could also come into contention depending on his fitness (he is carrying a slight knock) and whether Rafa starts with both Aquilani and Torres. The striker looks assured of a return – he looked sharp enough last night to suggest he is ready for the Arsenal game. As for Aquilani – his chances of starting look more slight despite an impressive showing. Both Rafa and the player acknowledges that match fitness is still an issue and the Liverpool boss was very cagey about the Italian’s chances of a start…
“I think he showed his quality. He has to improve his match fitness, but in terms of his touch, vision and passing it was good….We will see if everyone is available and then we will decide. We have to see how they train.”
With Aurelio and Dossena available and nearing full fitness, Emiliano Insua now looks under severe rotation threat. Rafa commented earlier in the week that he is keen to hand the Argentine a rest.
“There have been other players who have had to play too many games because of our injuries…But once we have some more players coming back, hopefully we will be able to manage in a better way and Emiliano is definitely someone who will benefit”
Given that Insua started last night, it could be that this comes at the weekend, with Aurelio a possible starter at left-back, with Riera or Benayoun in front of him in midfield.