'We have to pick our times to attack'

 By Lloyd Webb

Aaron Ramsey says Arsenal will have to choose the right times to attack Olympiacos in Wednesday’s Champions League Group F decider.

The Gunners travel to Greece knowing they have to win by a margin of two goals, or beat Marco Silva’s side by a one-goal margin and score at least three times, to qualify for the knockout stages.

Olympiacos won the reverse tie 3-2 in September, but Arsenal have since recovered from their difficult start to the group stage, and Ramsey is confident the Gunners have enough attacking quality to reach the next round of the competition.

“Of course but we have to choose the right times to do that but we will always create opportunities – just hopefully we can stop them, keep a clean sheet and grab a couple of goals ourselves,” the Wales midfielder said.

“It was never easy after the start we had but we have done well to come back into the position that we find ourselves in and it is in our hands – we know what we have to do. We got off to a good win today for December and hopefully we can continue this and keep ourselves in the hunt for the league and to hopefully qualify for the Champions League as well.

“We know what we have to do and we believe we have enough quality to create the opportunities and score. Hopefully we can do that and keep a clean sheet.”

Arsenal will be without Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin when they travel to Piraeus, but Ramsey is hoping he can fill the void by continuing his fine form in central midfield after he scored in Saturday’s 3-1 win against Sunderland.

“Injuries like these happen in football,” he said. “I wish Santi a speedy recovery, and Francis as well, we have been hit hard by injuries this season but it gives players the opportunities to take.

“I have made no secret that I prefer to play in the middle and hopefully now I can stay there. My performance today was good and hopefully I can keep building on that now to play where I prefer to play.”