Arsenal travel to Sporting CP in the Champions League league phase for Matchday 5. The Gunners sit tied for 10th with several other clubs on 7 points. Sporting are tied second with 10 points. The hosts are one of the surprises of the CL season and will be a much tougher opponent for Arsenal than we thought back during the draw.
The Portuguese side have a perfect 11-0 record in the Liga Portugal, scoring 39 goals and conceding just 5. They swept Manchester City aside 4-1 in early November, although the quality of that win has rapidly declined. Former manager Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United a few weeks ago, but Sporting kept rolling along without him, racking up three consecutive wins under new manager João Pereira.
Sporting are led by Viktor Gyökeres, who has blossomed into one of the top strikers in Europe. He has 16 goals in 11 league matches and 5 in 4 in the CL. His hot start to the season backs up his impressive campaign last year — 29 goals in 33 apps in the league, 5 in 9 in the Europa League. The 26-year old Swede will likely be plying his trade at one of the glamour clubs in Europe next season — he’s been linked all over, including Arsenal. Francisco Trincao and Pedro Goncalves round out the attacking trio for Sporting with Daniel Braganca pulling the strings from the midfield.
Despite a defensive record that isn’t as impressive as last season, the Gunners have shown themselves capable of shutting down an opposing attack (and we know they can do it, see e.g. all of last season). That starts with Martin Ødegaard. He organizes and leads the press, disrupting and stopping opposing attacks before they start. Arsenal should be able to deny Sporting time and space on the ball.
The Gunners have a significant size advantage over the Portuguese side and should be able to use their physicality to dictate the match. There aren’t many clubs in Europe that can match the Gunners for big, strong dudes who are also capable on the ball — Kai Havertz, Declan Rice, and even Mikel Merino in the midfielder, Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and yes, Jurrien Timber (who isn’t the tallest but is thick). There is always the possibility that talented, technical players can move the ball quicker and play around Arsenal’s size.
But when Arsenal are at their best, my money is always going on them because the part I left out is that Arsenal are fast, too. I’m not talking about blistering, attacking pace because Arsenal don’t have much of that outside of Gabriel Martinelli and, to a lesser extent, Bukayo Saka. It’s Arsenal’s defensive pace that gives clubs fits. You simply don’t have the time and space on the ball that you’re used to and think you do. The Arsenal midfielders are on you in a flash and they’re probably going to win the duel.
I keep coming back to it (although I’m not sure I’ve said it on TSF recently) — think back to April 2023 when Manchester City comprehensively beat Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad to more or less clinch the Premier League title. It seemed as if they had more players on the pitch than Arsenal. They were everywhere, particularly in the midfield. That’s Arsenal now. When Arsenal are at or close to full strength, they overrun opponents.
The good news is that it looks as if the Gunners are heading towards being that side again. The opening three months of the season were tough for Arsenal — brutal schedule, injuries, bad bounces, questionable refereeing decisions, etc. It masked their quality. Sidenote: even through all that, they were still a really good team on underlying numbers. But it wasn’t fully coming together. The comprehensive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest was a glimpse of the real Arsenal (or what we hope is the real Arsenal).
Sporting will prove a much more difficult test. Arsenal probably need this match more than the hosts do given the CL table, but you don’t want to drop points at home. A result for the Gunners, preferably a win, would go a long way towards claiming one of the coveted top 8 finishing places. Arsenal’s remaining CL matches are “easier” on paper, so a result would also more or less clinch a place in the knockout stages. For Sporting, a win over Arsenal would make it unlikely they finish outside the top 8.
It’s still tough to read much into the Champions League league stage table and to get a strong sense for the relative safety / danger any particular club face given their position, points total, and remaining matches. It’s annoying. I guess all there is to do is win the matches in front of you.
In a pleasant turn of events, Arsenal have no new additions to the injury list. Takehiro Tomiyasu is away from the club somewhere, rehabbing from his never-ending string of injuries. Ben White’s surgery will keep him out until January-ish. Kieran Tierney was among the Arsenal traveling squad, although I don’t anticipate he’ll feature.
Sporting will be without wide attacker Nuno Santos, who is recovering from a torn patella tendon. Both defender Zeno Debast and attacker Pedro Goncalves are questionable with muscle injuries.
Arsenal – Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Partey, Ødegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz
Sporting CP – Israel, Inacio, Diomande, St. Juste, Araujo, Hjulmand, Morita, Quenda, Edwards, Trincao, Gyokeres
WHO: Arsenal at Sporting CP
WHAT: Champions League league stage match day 5
WHEN: Tuesday, November 26th, 3:00pm EST/12:00pm PST/8:00pm GMT
WHERE: Jose Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon
HOW TO WATCH: Streaming on the Paramount+ app
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