Arsenal vs. Olympiakos: Gunners' Midfield Key to Champions League Success

Arsenal continue to be bitten by the injury bug, as more bad news comes in with each passing day. The Gunners have serious injury concerns, especially in the midfield.

Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and Yossi Benayoun are all out for the team's game with Olympiakos. Wilshere, in particular, will miss four to five months as he underwent surgery on a stress fracture in his foot.

With Wilshere out until at least February, the rest of the midfield is going to need to step up.

Manager Arsene Wenger is aware that the midfield is going to play a huge role in his team's success in Europe. Here is what Wenger said in his latest press conference, according to Fox News:

"

It makes us a bit shorter in midfield and it puts a bit more pressure on our midfielders to perform game-in, game-out, because we will have less rotation possibilities, but every club can be tested on that front so it shouldn't impact our end result of the season and shouldn't be any excuse at all.

If [Abou] Diaby comes back well and quickly we should, number wise, quality wise, be all right.

That depends as well on the injuries we have in the next two or three months.

Touch wood we can absorb the number of games we face well and we have some younger players pushing like [Francis] Coquelin like Frimpong, who are playing very well, so hopefully we can cope with it.

"

Everyone knows the young talent is there to cope with some injuries, but the young players on this team are going to be forced into tough spots on a regular basis.

If the midfield struggles, the Gunners are going to have a lot of problems. They need young players like Frimpong to step up and make a strong impact on the pitch, while the rest of the midfielders recover from injuries.

These next few games are extremely important for Arsenal's chances in Europe, and the midfield needs to rise to the occasion at home against Olympiakos.