Arsenal will resume their Champions League duties away to Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening.
The Gunners ended their three-game winless run with a solid 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League. They lost 1-0 to Inter Milan in their last Champions League outing, dropping to 12th in the standings but remain only two points off a place in the top eight, which would guarantee safe passage into the knockout rounds.
Mikel Arteta’s men would take a lot of confidence from their weekend’s Premier League win when they travel to Sporting CP, who stunned Manchester City 4-1 last month.
Arsenal Team News
Arsenal’s treatment room has vacated significantly over the past couple of weeks, and only the long-term trio of Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney will sit out Tuesday’s match through injury.
All of Riccardo Calafiori, Saka, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice shook off their recent concerns to make the matchday squad against Nottingham Forest.
Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Sporting CP (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
David Raya is Arsenal’s undisputed No.1 and there’s no reason why he should not start against Sporting CP.
Defence
Mikel Arteta is expected to retain the back four that started against Nottingham Forest, meaning we can see Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori all start.
Saliba and Gabriel have to be at their best to keep the in-form Viktor Gyokeres quiet. Timber and Calafiori will operate from the right-back and left-back positions respectively, trying to stop the Sporting wing-backs from making inroads.
Midfield
Martin Odegaard made a huge difference on Saturday after starting his first game since returning from injury. He is the glue who keeps Arsenal ticking in the middle of the park. The Norwegian will be joined by Thomas Partey and Declan Rice, who was an unused substitute against Forest.
Jorginho and Mikel Merino should drop the bench.
Attack
Kai Havertz should lead the Arsenal attack, flanked by Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. The trio will look to exploit spaces between Sporting’s midfield and defence. Saka and Martinelli’s pace can cause problems for the hosts and pin back their attacking wing-backs.
Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus could make an impact off the bench.
