Arsenal are preparing for another huge European night as they travel to Portugal to face off with Sporting CP in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. The Gunners will be hopeful of going as far as possible into the competition, having missed out in the final in 2019 to rivals Chelsea.
Mikel Arteta navigated through the group stages while rotating the side for the clashes, beating PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich on their run. The north London outfit finished top of the group, meaning they avoided playing an extra two matches in the playoffs if they finished second instead.
Discussing the competition a few months ago, Arteta mentioned the importance of finishing top and the difficulty of the next few rounds. He told reporters: "This competition is getting harder and harder and how it looks today and what the possibilities are, it looks like the next round will be extremely competitive. That’s why finishing first in the group and avoiding another two games is such an important thing for us.”
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There are a few injury concerns for Arteta to deal with though, meaning there may be less rotation than expected from the side. One huge boost is the return of Gabriel Jesus, though it may be too soon for him to feature, while three players missed out on training on Wednesday.
Kieran Tierney, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah were not spotted at first-team training, with the latter two already doubts for the clash. It means that at striker, there's only the option of Gabriel Martinelli or Emile Smith Rowe, while at left-back one of Oleksandr Zinchenko or Takehiro Tomiyasu are an option.
It remains to be seen which options Arteta will go for when the north London outfit face Sporting on Thursday, but with the Premier League title race coming towards the end as well, it will be a balancing act to make sure the side are competitive in both.
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