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Kaya Kaynak

Arsenal confirmed line-up vs Olympiacos as Aubameyang returns but Martinelli on the bench

Arsenal have confirmed their starting XI for their Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Olympiacos.

The Gunners go into the game with a 3-1 lead from the first leg after victory at the Georgios Karisakis Stadium last Thursday.

The win in Athens means the Greek Champions will now have to score three goals at the Emirates if they are to knock out Arsenal for a second consecutive season.

That has not stopped Mikel Arteta from naming a very strong line up for the match however.

Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Martinelli getting his chance

The big headlines news is that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returns to the Gunners starting line up as captain after being left out of the North London Derby due to a disciplinary issue.

Speaking ahead of the game Arteta revealed that he considered the matter to be dealt with after his actions on Sunday.

"Really positively," he said when asked how the Gabon striker had reacted to the decision.

"That’s why I said that this is over. We move forward in a positive way and there is no more comments to make on that."

With this selection it seems as though the matter has been settled for now.

Arteta has made just one change to his back four with Hector Bellerin coming in for Cedric Soares, and Bernd Leno continuing in goal despite Arsenal's strong lead going into the match.

Intriguingly though the Gunners boss has chosen to name three deeper lying midfielders in his line up, with Mohamed Elneny and Dani Ceballos coming in to join Granit Xhaka in the centre of the pitch, which could suggest a formation change from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3.

Nicolas Pepe comes in on the right wing for the injured Bukayo Saka. The England international was withdrawn at half time due to a hamstring injury and is not even in the squad for Olympiacos.

His place in the squad has been taken by Gabriel Martinelli after failing to even make the bench for the victory over Spurs.

Full Arsenal starting XI: Leno; Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Xhaka; Pepe, Ceballos Smith Rowe; Aubameyang.

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