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Match preview
After an open and entertaining first leg in Lisbon, this tie is perfectly poised ahead of the return meeting in North London.
Arsenal broke the deadlock a week ago with William Saliba heading home a corner from close-range, only for Sporting to equalise in near-identical fashion, with Gonçalo Inácio their scorer.
The hosts were then in the ascendancy early in the second half and deservedly took the lead through Paulinho’s rebound.
Nevertheless, the Gunners equalised in very bizarre fashion with Granit Xhaka’s attempted through-ball flicking off the unfortunate Hidemasa Morita and nestling in the bottom corner.
So, 2-2 it finished at Estádio José Alvalade, meaning it is winner takes all here.
Arsenal’s focus isn’t on this competition, given that they’re five points clear at the top of the Premier League, targeting a first title in 19 years.
This made it five successive victories ahead of Sunday’s home game against Crystal Palace.
In this competition, Arsenal won all three home group games without conceding, so it would be a major surprise if they weren’t involved in Friday’s quarter-final draw.
Sporting Clube de Portugal meanwhile aren’t enjoying their domestic season very much, sat fourth, five points below Braga in the final Champions League spot.
As a result, Rúben Amorim has come in for plenty of criticism, so a victory here would do wonders for him.
Sporting are winless in five visits to England, dating back to 2009, only winning three of 15 fixtures there overall.
So, even with a rotated line-up, Mikel Arteta’s team are set to march on.
Arsenal team news
Jakub Kiwior made his Arsenal debut in the first leg, so is likely to keep his place at centre-back.
Other players set to be rotated in are Matt Turner, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jorginho, Reiss Nelson and Kieran Tierney, the latter missed the trip to Lisbon due to illness.
The big news on Sunday, aside from the win, was that Gabriel Jesus made his return from injury, enjoying a 13 minute cameo, so expect to see him feature again here.
With Eddie Nketiah sidelined, Leandro Trossard, who got a hat-trick of first half assists at Fulham, could continue to lead the line.
Emile Smith Rowe will also be hoping for a first start of the season as he looks to regain fitness.
Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Turner; Tomiyasu, Holding, Kiwior, Tierney; Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Smith Rowe; Nelson, Martinelli, Trossard.
Sporting CP team news
Star centre-back Sebastián Coates and Hidemasa Morita, scorer of an own goal a week ago, are both suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
In better news, first choice goalkeeper Antonio Adán is expected to be fit, despite missing Sunday’s win over Boavista injured.
Tottenham academy graduate Marcus Edwards will be looking to make it two in two at the Emirates, having scored there during his time with Vitória de Guimarães.
He’ll continue as part of a front three that’ll also feature Pedro Gonçalves, who’s got 16 goals to his name this season.
Héctor Bellerín made 239 senior appearances for Arsenal, but will miss out on an emotional return due to injury.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Adán; St. Juste, Diomande, Inácio; Esgaio, Ugarte, Tanlongo, Santos, Edwards, Gonçalves, Paulinho.
Arsenal vs Sporting CP: Head to head statistics
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