Olympiacos defender Ruben Semedo will miss their Europa League tie against Arsenal through injury, opening a path for Sokratis Papastathopoulos to start.

Sportime journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos reports that Ruben Semedo underwent a scan on his knee on Tuesday. The results showed an injury that will keep him out for six weeks, certainly long enough to rule him out of both legs against Arsenal.

When Semedo went off at the weekend, it was former Gunner Sokratis Papastathopoulos who replaced him. Sokratis will now presumably take his place in the starting lineup, including for the two matches against his old club.

Even if Semedo hadn’t been injured, it’s very possible Olympiacos would have chosen Sokratis to start against Arsenal anyway. No one in their squad will know Mikel Arteta’s side better than the 32-year-old defender.

The injury just makes a Sokratis start even more likely. Despite being an Arsenal player for the first half of the season, it appears the defender will end up playing more minutes at the Emirates Stadium with Olympiacos in 2020/21.

Sokratis gave his thoughts on the tie to the media recently, admitting it would be a special one for him.