Mikel Arteta faces many difficult Arsenal decisions for their Europa League last-16 clash against Sporting CP. Not only are a number of his key players major doubts for the clash but the Spaniard has to also decide if he must rest any first-team stars with the Gunners' ongoing Premier League title battle with Manchester City his priority.
Topping their group has meant Arteta and his players have not had to worry about European action since November 3, 2022, but their focus will have now shifted to a competition they could win. The knockout play-off round saw teams such as PSV, Monaco and of course Barcelona eliminated leaving Arsenal alongside Manchester United and Juventus as the favourites to win the tournament.
With two competitions to compete in now, both of which Arsenal have a real chance of winning, the return of Gabriel Jesus could not be better timed. The 25-year-old has been out with a knee injury since the World Cup but returned to full training earlier this week and travelled with the squad to Portugal.
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Understandably the availability of Jesus was what everyone wanted to know in Arteta's pre-match press conference, but the Arsenal boss was giving nothing away. He told reporters: "News on the squad will be tomorrow. We have brought a few players and you will see tomorrow who is available."
Leandro Trossard, Eddie Nketiah and Kieran Tierney are the other possible absentees for the clash and once again Arteta ensured he played his cards close to his chest. "Let’s see how they evolve," he replied when asked for the status of the trio. "Obviously we’ve had a few issues in the last few days and I am trying to accommodate everybody and get everyone in the best possible condition for tomorrow."
On top of those four key decisions there will likely be other team selection dilemma's plaguing the mind of Arteta, but Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has told his former teammate exactly what to do.
Speaking on CBS Sport, he said: “I would just go for it. Gabriel Jesus is coming back soon. The core of the team shouldn’t move. You can change a Nketiah with a Jesus that’s going to come back. You don’t want to burn him also. You can change maybe a Martinelli with a Trossard. You can change those guys.
“But you need that core, especially at the back. You don’t want to suddenly play with one centre-back, and then another centre-back. Another right-back or left-back. No, you need to have that unit and that core. But offensively you can sometimes twist that.
“With that goal. He [Reiss Nelson] has to be a tiny bit more (chance to start). But I’m not in training to also see what he does every week. That’s important for you to see as a coach.”
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