Lille striker Olivier Giroud heaped praise on Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners started their Champions League league phase with a 1-0 win at Napoli last month. Martin Odegaard scored a late winner with a powerful strike from the edge of the box.
Arsenal will be aiming for a second win in Europe tomorrow night. Lille will be the visitors at the Emirates, and the game will feature a familiar face in Giroud in the opposition ranks.
Giroud, now 40, had a memorable career with Arsenal. He scored 105 goals and provided 38 assists in 253 appearances. He also won three FA Cups during this period with the Gunners.
His relationship with fans somewhat soured after his ‘Thank you, Arsenal’ dig after beating the club to the Europa League title with Chelsea, but he remains fondly remembered by many.
Ahead of tomorrow’s encounter, Giroud had plenty of good things to say about Arsenal and also spoke about his time together with Arteta, who has done a tremendous job as manager.
In a short video released by Lille on X, Giroud said that it will be ‘amazing to see’ Arteta again and added that he has been doing ‘a great job’ after taking the club right to the top last season.
He said: “It’s amazing to see Mikel Arteta again, with whom I played when I first arrived at Arsenal, and then he took charge of the club. A few years later, he is doing a great job. He’s taken them to the top: a Champions League final and a Premier League title.”
Giroud last played at the Emirates as a Chelsea player in January 2021, where he received a frosty reception. It remains to be seen how the reaction will be tomorrow.
At his age, the Frenchman has been in and out of the starting XI. He played just 13 minutes against Real Betis in Europe last month, and may come off the bench against Arsenal too.
Regardless, Arsenal’s main focus should be on picking up a second straight win in the elite European competition. They should be clear-cut favourites to beat the Ligue 1 outfit.
Arteta is bound to make changes to the XI, and we anticipate at least five. Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi are certain to miss out after suffering ankle injuries in a warm-down session on Saturday.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com