By Danong
Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday, with the Gunners hosting Portuguese heavyweights Sporting CP at the Emirates Stadium.
Yes, the Gunners head into this game with an advantage, a 1-0 lead in the tie, but that is arguably the trickiest lead they could hold in a Champions League knockout clash.
Sporting have reached this stage entirely on merit, and should Arsenal slip, they could easily turn things around and knock them out. Notably, the Primeira Liga outfit have failed to score in just one competitive away game all season.
Arsenal fans simply could not handle a Wednesday night Champions League heartbreak, not after that disappointing Saturday defeat, losing 2-1 to Bournemouth.
Mikel Arteta and his side will need to bring their A-game, yet doing so will be made harder by the absence of several key players.
A disappointing update from Arsenal's training ground confirms that Declan Rice was nowhere to be seen in their latest training session.
The Englishman joins a growing absentee list that already includes Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, and Riccardo Calafiori.
Even so, Arteta can still field a strong side that should be capable of handling Sporting.
That team could look like this:
Raya
White, Gabriel, Saliba, Lewis-Skelly
Nørgaard, Zubimendi, Eze
Madueke, Gyökeres, Martinelli.
It may not be the strongest line-up Arteta has put out, but it should carry more than enough quality to deal with a Sporting side that will be without key men Ivan Fresneda and Luís Guilherme.
Worth noting, however, is that their captain, Morten Hjulmand, returns for this game after missing the first leg through suspension.
What augurs well fir Arsenal is that Sporting have got a bad record in Europe when they lost the first tie losing 13 of 14 such ties.
Three Arsenal wins and three draws, Sporting have never managed to beat the Gunners (over 90 minutes and extra time) and Wednesday is unlikely to be the day that changes.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment