Gabriel Martinelli got Arsenal on the board early and Bukayo Saka finished the job late, and the Gunners cruised to a 2-0 victory over Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
MORE — Champions League schedule | Champions League table
Mikel Arteta elected to rotate his squad heavily, starting the game with Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori on the bench. All of them got on the field in the second half, except for Calafiori, with West Ham set to visit Emirates Stadium on Saturday (10 am ET) in the Premier League.
Arsenal vs Olympiacos live updates - by Andy Edwards
Arsenal vs Olympiacos final score: 2-0
Goalscorers: Gabriel Martinelli (13'), Bukayo Saka (90'+2)
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos: Saka puts it away after a few late scares (90'+2)
Bukayo Saka seals all three points for Arsenal ✨ pic.twitter.com/cJMr9lTMFh
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 1, 2025
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Olympiacos: Martinelli cleans up after Gyokeres hits the post (13')
Gabriel Martinelli pounces on the rebound to score the opener for Arsenal 🎯 pic.twitter.com/fyGd5rrfhU
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 1, 2025
Arsenal starting lineup
Raya - White, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly - Zubimendi, Merino, Odegaard - Trossard, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Olympiacos starting lineup
Tzolakis - Costinha, Restos, Pirola, Ortega - Garcia, Hezze, Chiqinho - Martins, Podence, El Kaabi
How to watch Arsenal vs Olympiacos live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Wednesday (October 1)
Venue: Emirates Stadium — London
TV Channel/Streaming: Paramount+
Following their late, late win at Newcastle on Sunday, Arsenal sit just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool and will go top of the table this weekend (for at least a day) if they beat West Ham on Saturday. But first is a Champions League clash against Greek giants Olympiacos as they aim to make it two wins from two in this competition. It will also be intriguing to see how much Mikel Arteta rotates his side. Injuries have kept cropping up but this Arsenal squad is deeper and new players have settled in very nicely. The Gunners also received a huge boost ahead of this game with star center back William Saliba signing a long-term contract extension.
Olympiacos have made a superb start to the domestic season with four wins and a draw against bitter rivals Panathinaikos in their opening five games. They have had plenty of success in the Europa League and Conference League in recent years, winning the latter competition in 2024 and they’ve consistently reached the latter stages of the Europa League too. They drew at home with Cypriot champions Pafos in their opening game in the Champions League this season which was a big disappointment after their opponents had a player sent off just 25 minutes in.
Arsenal team news, focus
Arteta is without Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Jesus and Piero Hincapie, but he will have been delighted to bring Saliba and Martin Odegaard off the bench in the win at Newcastle. We can expect Saliba and Odegaard to both start, while Martinelli and Lewis-Skelly could also be rotated into the lineup to keep things fresh.
Olympiacos team news, focus
There are some extremely talented attackers on this team with the experience of Daniel Podence, Remy Cabella and Mehdi Taremi a real threat. Ayoub El Kaabi is a proper number nine and will lead the line, while Olympiacos are without Ukrainian forward Roman Yaremchuk through injury.
Arsenal vs Olympiacos prediction
This feels like it will be fairly straightforward for Arsenal, even if they do rotate a few players. Arsenal 3-0 Olympiacos.