Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Arsenal could line up for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon.
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta is likely to tinker with his starting XI for Tuesday’s Champions League battle with Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.
The Gunners ended a four-game winless sequence in the Premier League by easing past Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Saturday, where only Ben White (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Kieran Tierney (hamstring) were absent through injury.
The defensive trio should be Arsenal’s only enforced absentees for Tuesday’s tie too, and Arteta could change over a third of the team that started the success over Forest, where he sprang a couple of surprises in his first XI.
Indeed, Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus were unexpected starters at the weekend; while the latter’s scoreless run in the top flight continued, the former impressed in the first 45 minutes before being withdrawn.
Neither man should reprise their roles here, though, as Kai Havertz will almost certainly replace Jesus up front, and the same can be said for Leandro Trossard as Gabriel Martinelli endeavours to regain his place.
A well-rested Declan Rice is set to bump Jorginho down to the bench, but Arteta’s biggest selection quandary also comes in midfield, where Mikel Merino and Thomas Partey are now poised for a season-long battle for starts.
The latter conjured up a terrific goal in the Forest win, where Merino played the full 90 minutes, so Partey may very well oust the Spaniard from the first XI on this occasion.
Riccardo Calafiori also came through two-thirds of Saturday’s game unscathed following his knee problem, and the Italian is expected to be given the thumbs-up to comprise part of an unchanged backline.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
No Data Analysis info
