Pressing Issues

• A look into who could be the key players as Sporting host Arsenal in the Champions League.
• How Sporting are coping without Ruben Amorim.
• Mikel Arteta’s demands for his team to be “ruthless” in their visit to Portugal.

Havertz and Martinelli to return for Portugal visit

After being rested in Arsenal’s 3-0 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest, forwards Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli are expected to return to the Arsenal starting eleven, with fresh legs and a point to prove after being dropped at the weekend.

The Gunners are yet to score in an away Champions League fixture, after a goalless draw with Atalanta, and the 1-0 loss to Inter.

In his pre-match press conference Arteta urged his team to be more “efficient” in tonight’s game.

“The Champions League is about the boxes, small margins and details, and you have to get all those right to win”.

He considers the trip to Lisbon a “great challenge”.

Last season’s Premier League runners up have recent history against Sporting, after the Portuguese outfit eliminated Arsenal from the Europa League in 2023 in a penalty shootout in North London.

Considering the boss’s comments, and the threat that Sporting will pose if Arsenal do not take them seriously, we can expect a full-strength eleven to be named by Arteta this evening.

Declan Rice is expected to return after not featuring against Forest on Saturday, and long-term absentee Kieran Tierney has been included in Arsenal’s travelling squad. Whether he will be utilised straight away remains to be seen.

Expected lineup: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

No Amorim, No Problem for Sporting

Last year’s Liga Portugal champions are currently on a run of 9 successive victories, and this run continued with a 6-0 win over Amarante in the Taca de Portugal – in what was new manger Joao Pereira’s first game in charge.

They sit 2nd and unbeaten in the Champions League league phase table.

Arsenal will certainly prove a bigger challenge, but Sporting were able to rest many first choice players in their cup victory. As a result, star forward Victor Gyokores will be fresh and ready to impress against one of the clubs reportedly in pursuit of his signature.

The Swedish striker has 5 goals in 4 games in the Champions League this season, including a hat trick against Premier League champions Manchester City at the start of November.

Sporting will however be without key playmaker Pedro Goncalves, who sustained an injury in a 4-2 win over Braga on the 10th of November.

Goncalves’ shoes will be very tricky to fill, as the Portuguese-man has averaged 4.6 key passes per game and created 8 big chances in Liga Portugal this season.

The obvious replacement is 25-year-old Englishman Marcus Edwards, who scored two in Sporting’s cup victory last week.

Edwards lacks the playmaking quality of Goncalves and is yet to create a big chance in Liga Portugal this season. However, this has come in limited minutes – he is yet to start a league game.

The ex-Tottenham man featured heavily in Sporting’s Champions League group stage games in 2022/23, starting all 6 games and providing 4 goals and assists during this time. The performance of the 25-year-old against Arsenal could be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the game.

Predicted lineup: Israel, St. Juste, Diomande, Inacio, Catamo, Morita, Hjulmand, Quenda, Trincao, Edwards, Gyokeres