Arsenal vs PSG: Olivier Giroud Must Outshine Edinson Cavani

Arsenal takes on PSG and with the long link to Edinson Cavani, Olivier Giroud has an excellent chance to prove his worth in front of a spiteful French crowd.

Arsenal faces PSG in the French capital to open up the Champions League group stages and there is a hefty degree of optimism that this could be the Gunner’s best chance of winning the group (and beyond?) in quite some time. With depth and very few injuries, Wenger has options galore to put the Gunner’s best foot forward.

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There are some questions as to who will start for Arsenal, but should it be Olivier Giroud, which, given how little he has played lately, it very well could be, then the Frenchman has a fantastic opportunity to potentially alleviate some of the squealing fans that always seem to doubt his abilities.

Giroud has a history of French fans not exactly loving him either, so it would almost be like a double-positive to put forth a solid effort to day on his return to the starting XI (again, assuming he starts).

Plus, there is another aspect it. Wenger has a long, storied history of being linked to Edinson Cavani. It’s one of the few links out there that I truly believe Wenger could have completed if he actually wanted him. The Uruguayan had plenty of irritation and ire built up to the French giants while Zlatan was there but Wenger continued to pass.

Now, Cavani is a starting front man at long last and no matter what the history actually is between him and Arsenal, he is going to want to prove that Wenger made a mistake not coming for him and that he is indeed a quality striker.

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Thus far into the season, he has been sub-par, scoring just one goal in three appearances. Perhaps he was best used in Zlatan’s shadow all along.

We also have to consider, though, that PSG has not been good this season either.

Which brings me to why this is a great opportunity for Giroud. Cavani would have been a replacement for Olivier Giroud and many don’t understand why it never materialized. This is Giroud’s chance to show us why it never materialized.

If he can go out there and put up a better showing than his striking counterpart, then maybe (a big maybe) we will all see that Giroud is indeed of a higher quality than Cavani and more capable of handling the pressures associated with the job.

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