Arsenal return to Europa League action on Thursday evening in Portugal as they take on Sporting CP in a last-16 first leg encounter. The Premier League title likely remains as the priority for Mikel Arteta and his players, but the Europa League presents a great opportunity for the club to win a major trophy.
The league leaders haven't played in the competition since early November with Sporting's European journey this season being vastly different to that of the Gunners. The Portuguese side were initially in the Champions League but suffered a group stage elimination that meant they had to bypass a knockout play-off match to get the last-16 stage of the Europa League.
Ruben Amorim's side were drawn against FC Midtjylland and were able to win the tie 5-1 on aggregate to set up a last-16 clash with Arsenal. Speaking ahead of their Europa League clash, Arteta was full of praise for Arsenal's opponents.
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"Their strength is the idea of the manager which is very clear," he said. "He has been very successful over the past years. We watched many of their matches vs Tottenham and vs the big teams in Portugal. They are a very competitive team with a clear game plan. We need to be at our best to win this match."
Given their scintillating league form, the Gunners are favourites for the clash but Arteta could be without a number of key players, particularly in attack. Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah are fresh injury doubts, while Gabriel Jesus only returned to full first-team training on Wednesday after a lengthy lay-off with a knee injury.
Kieran Tierney, who has been Arsenal's starting left-back in all their Europa League games this season, could also miss out through illness.
Arteta was coy to give updates on the group meaning their availability for Thursday's game is rather unknown. Given the timing of his return, the Europa League could be used as the perfect way to get Jesus back to full speed, building up his game time slowly and carefully.
However, the clash could come too soon for him and Arsenal may have also hinted that the same can be said for Trossard and Nketiah. Ahead of this evening's fixture, Arsenal posted a pre-match photo on their social media promoting the game which included Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.
A graphic was also posted on Twitter late into the evening on Wednesday which had Reiss Nelson front and centre. Given the injury concerns, Arteta could be forced to play three of his usual league starters with Nelson also securing a start after his Bournemouth heroics at the weekend.
If that is to be the front four deployed in Portugal, it will likely be Martinelli who starts up front with Nelson and Saka on the wings and Odegaard the most advanced of a midfield three.
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