With Sporting being forced to bring in at least one inexperienced midfielder to cover for stalwart Ugarte, Arsenal would no doubt take advantage in normal circumstances, but a wealth of attacking injuries does not bode that well for Arteta’s side. While the Gunners should not share the same fate as North London rivals Tottenham did on Sporting’s turf, they might have to be content with a draw before the two sides reconvene at the Emirates on March 16. Sporting’s second-leg thrashing of Midtjylland in the playoff round was not the perfect affair for Amorim, as midfielder Manuel Ugarte picked up his third European booking of the season and will miss Thursday’s game through suspension. With Daniel Braganca still recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament, 19-year-old Argentina starlet Mateo Tanlongo should come in for a start alongside Hidemasa Morita, but Amorim has no other injury or suspension concerns to factor in.
Amorim should not shy away from making a few defensive alterations, bringing Matheus Reis and Jeremiah St. Juste back in from the start, but Hector Bellerin will likely start on the bench against his old club. As for Arsenal, Arteta is at risk of being without his three recognised central attacking options after Leandro Trossard came off with a groin problem in the first half of the win over Bournemouth. Initial assessments have ruled out a serious injury, but the Belgian is likely to miss out here alongside Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny, while Eddie Nketiah’s ankle problem is unlikely to heal in time for the first leg either. Gabriel Martinelli should therefore shoulder the goalscoring burden in the number nine spot, allowing Emile Smith Rowe – who came off the bench against Bournemouth before being taken off for Nelson – to come in for his first start of the season on the left-hand side.
Arteta will be tempted to shuffle the pack some more as Matt Turner, Jorginho and Kieran Tierney push for recalls, but the latter will miss the second leg at the Emirates if he picks up a booking. The Gunners were spared competing in the knockout round play-offs having topped their group over the autumn and are now one of the strongest teams remaining in the competition. They have been paired with Sporting, who dropped out of the Champions League but notably took four points off of Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham in the process. With hopes of securing a Champions League spot via the Primeira Liga dwindling, victory in this competition might be Sporting’s best chance of returning to Europe’s top table. Ruben Amorim’s only absentees are midfielders Daniel Braganca (knee) and Manuel Ugarte (suspension). Otherwise, he is expected to name his strongest possible XI, which includes Arsenal academy graduate Hector Bellerin.
We’re into the last 16 of the Europa League, and one of the ties sees Premier League leaders Arsenal travel to the Estádio José Alvalade in Portugal to take on Sporting CP. Can either side take a big step toward qualifying for the quarter-finals? We preview the match and reveal our Opta supercomputer prediction for the clash. Fresh off the back of another dramatic win in the Premier League against Bournemouth at the weekend, Arsenal travel to Portugal to take on Sporting CP in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 clash. It sounds like a fairly unique matchup, but it’ll actually be the fifth meeting between the two sides in European competition, with the Gunners yet to lose or concede a goal in the previous four. Arsenal and Sporting CP have met twice in the Europa League before. That came back in 2018-19 when both sides were drawn in Group E. The Gunners came off better – taking four points across the two meetings on the way to topping the group.
