Olympiacos vs Arsenal: Mesut Ozil will not be rested despite midfield injury crisis ahead of CL clash

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will not give in-form midfielder Mesut Ozil a breather when the Gunners face a must win Champions League clash against Olympiacos on Wednesday (9 December) despite the injury crisis threatening to derail the club's good start to the season at least in the Premier League. The north London club's hopes of qualifying to the knockout phase of the elite European competition hangs by a thread and the French manager is set to name the strongest possible squad to get all the three points.

The 12-time FA Cup champions are currently without five first-team midfielders following recent injuries to Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, and with a busy festive period coming up, the manager will want to keep his best players fit. The German World Cup winner has been in fine form for Arsenal this season, and has already notched up 12 assists and two goals in his last 13 Premier League games. Ozil has played every minute of Arsenal's last nine games and the manager could be tempted to give his talisman a breather ahead of the busy Christmas period.

The former Real Madrid midfielder, however, is set to continue in his number 10 role for the clash against the Greek champions, with Arsenal needing to win by a two-goal margin to ensure their progress to the last 16 of the Champions League. Ozil is keen to play his part and help his team progress, and is confident that progress is possible if they play at their best.

"We have to be focused on the game, we have to give a really good performance. If we score an early goal, I'm confident that we can win this game and go through. I hope that I can help the team with a good performance on the night," Ozil said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"We know that we have a lot of quality up front, but our goal is to go into half-time ahead and then we will know that everything is possible. We have to also be careful in defence that we don't concede a goal," the German midfielder added.