Arsenal have completed preparations ahead of their Europa League round of 16 tie against Sporting CP. Mikel Arteta's side go into the match on Thursday evening in fine form, with the Gunners currently top of the Premier League.
The Europa League campaign has been equally as successful so far, with Arsenal finishing top of their group and therefore avoiding the knockout round play-offs which saw Barcelona exit the competition at the hands of Manchester United. Arteta is taking nothing for granted, however.
"It will be a tough match for both teams," the Spaniard admitted in his post-match press conference. "Both very competitive, we have a very clear idea. Be a very tough match in this stadium vs team with a big tradition, but we want to win."
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One player who may be able to help Arteta is Fabio Vieira. The 22-year-old knows Sporting CP well due to his ties with arch-rivals Porto, who he joined as an eight-year-old and went on to make more than 50 first-team appearances for.
The Gunners signed Vieira for £34million, plus add-ons, in the summer but his transition into life in the Premier League has been far from seamless. Opportunities have been limited due to the form of Martin Odegaard, with most of his appearances arriving in the Europa League.
However, he has featured in the Gunners' last two Premier League games and will be hoping to play once again at the Jose Alvalade Stadium on Thursday evening. There had been concerns over Vieira's availability for the clash in Portugal due to his absence from a pre-planned press conference, but it has since emerged he is suffering from illness and is still expected to feature.
That is good news for Arteta, who has already admitted he has quizzed the Portugal U21 star on Ruben Amorim's side. The former Manchester City coach said: "It was the first thing we did because it is great to have the knowledge and understanding of someone from the country that knows the manager, knows the team-mates. It is always very useful and he spoke really highly."
With two goals and five assists to his name this season, Vieira will be hoping to add to those numbers in Portugal on Thursday. At the very least, the former Porto star's knowledge of Sporting CP will most likely help Arsenal in their quest to progress to the Europa League quarter-finals.
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