Arsenal travel to Portugal to take on Sporting Club and this is the team that Mikel Arteta has selected to take on the Portuguese giants.
Sporting enters this fixture riding an impressive wave of success. The Portuguese giants have been in scintillating form, remaining undefeated in their last 18 matches across all competitions. Their most recent Champions League outing saw them dismantle Manchester City in a stunning 4-1 victory, with Viktor Gyökeres stealing the show with a hat-trick.
Gyökeres has been the standout performer for Sporting in this Champions League campaign. The Swedish striker has found the back of the net five times, placing him joint-top of the competition’s scoring charts. His prolific form will undoubtedly be a major concern for the Arsenal defence.
Despite beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates on Saturday, Arsenal have hit a rough patch in their away fixtures. The Gunners are winless in their last three away games across all competitions, including a 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan in their previous Champions League outing. This dip in form has seen them slip to 12th in the Champions League standings, with seven points from four matches.
Sporting come into this match on a six-game winning streak across all competitions, showcasing their offensive prowess by scoring 25 goals while conceding just five. Arsenal’s form has been more inconsistent, with two wins, two draws, and two losses in their last six outings.
As the teams prepare to face off, Sporting will be looking to capitalise on their home advantage and excellent form to solidify their position in the knockout stages. Arsenal, meanwhile, will be desperate to turn their away fortunes around and climb up the Champions League table. With both teams capable of producing moments of brilliance, this match could well be decided by fine margins.
Strongest team, we could put out with the exception of Martinelli. He needs to prove he is worth his place. But can he?
Not a bad start from Martinelli tonight Reggie!!
Ken, he was Jonny on the spot but apart from that?
Strong team + a strong bench with our injuries clearing out. Good to see Tierney back and we might even see him on the pitch to cover Calafiori who recently returned from injury. No backup for Timber is a worry though as he is not yet at 100%.
We are gonna that squad coming into the hectic christmas period.
Yes, Ackshay, it is good to see Tierney is fit
Let’s go!!!
Strong team. Trossard and Merino will come in second half and improve the technicality.
Arsenal doesn’t need the next big shiny toy to scare here and win, just get back to basic.
Get back to our fluid passing, movement off the ball and creative game playing.
Pepper their box with set pieces, we have become a victim of what were good at inflicting on the opposition, surely we will become effective again while scoring at ease.
The absence of Tomiyasu and White has considerably weakened the right hand side of our defence. Just hope that Timber remains injury-free for long
Calafiori can also play right.
Not a bad start, especially with the reputation of Sporting being free scoring.
Boom 3 nil
BOOM!!!!
That is the arsenal we want to see, go boys
What a start, absolutely fantastic
What a great first half – perfect in every way!!!
I wonder if Mikel will give the likes of Nwaneri and Tierney a chance in the second half?
Excellent Arsenal first half performance although Sporting are, so far, pretty disappointing – apart from the fireworks.
Anyway, will Arsenal ease up in the second half and bring on Nwaneri for a good run out?
What a great 1st half. Hopefully we can add a few more goals in the 2nd half, and keep a clean sheet.
Wow! what a half! We are consistently breaking them down and restricting them to half-chances. I am very happy with the team. Gyo-who? To think I was scared of this guy ahaha!
A tale of 2 halves currently
Come on Arsenal and calm down. A bit of a barrage right now
Not so great a start to the second
Come on boys, keep the flame
We’re getting sloppy, really sloppy.
Well taken Saka!
That calms any nervy feelings I was experiencing
Sporting 1 – 4 Arsenal, 70 minutes
Well, did anyone see this coming? I certainly didn’t.
Looks like we are having our beloved Arsenal right back.
Great 👍
Wowza!
Hi fives!
Jm having a ball
Unbelieveable, 1-5, very impresive. Where is Viktor Gyokeres?
Whilst I don’t think Raya will be man of the match, he was pretty damned good in goal
What a night!
Where did that come from? Our best of the season so far, by miles.
Brilliant performance from The Arsenal squad.
A perfect evening.
Nothing more to say…. oh yes… Pep and his city115 players 😂😂😂
Let’s hope Mikel doesn’t copy THAT performance 😂😂😂
Love your last sentence Ken 😂😂
HD, five goals without this CF we desperately need – I’m not sure where Mikel will go now and who’ll he turn to – maybe he’ll just rely on his own ideas?
Cringe AF
Not sure what’s more cringe ,Ken pretending he actually likes Arteta or you HD laughing at his pathetic jokes pretending he likes him .
Either way 🤢🤢🤢🤢
Excellent Arsenal performance, easily the best of their CL campaign so far.
Sporting was disappointing overall I thought, but still showed a threat from time to time albeit Gyokeres didn’t get much support.
All in all, a memorable night out for Arteta and the team.
Arsenal put Sporting under a lot pressure and they couldn’t cope.
A fantastic performance all round from the team. We now need to get on a long winning run.
Well done Ladz. Very well done…👏🏾
That right side of ours is too too strong
In Saka-Odegaard-Timber-Partey we have players that are extremely comfortable on the ball
When they start moving the ball about & around each other, it’s really hard to stop them from crafting an opportunity
Apart from a dodgy few minutes early in the second half, it was a really terrific performance from them all.
The squad is almost back to full strength. Confidence should be high and that is half the battle. Tee hee in Manchester where they somehow let a 3 goal lead slip