Arsenal at Sporting CP match preview: Keep em' firing

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After finding their feet at home, the Gunners head to Portugal for a huge Champions League clash

And just like that, the Gunners are back.

Well, maybe not all the way back. But Saturday's resounding win in their return to Premier League action after a two week international break sure felt a lot more like the Arsenal we have come to know and love in the past two and a half seasons, and that is a huge relief. The attack was humming, the defense was resolute, and the Gunners looked entirely in control from first whistle to last.

Mikel Arteta will certainly have felt reassured with his side with a largely note-perfect performance against a surprisingly solid Nottingham Forest side, especially as the brutal November fixture list ends and a more "manageable" December fixture list begins. His lineup was effective, even without a handful of starters, and the subs were spot on.

Two matches remain in the month, and the next one continues the trend of tough away ties that have punctuated the November calendar. Arsenal get a break from London's frigid temperatures as they head west to the more temperate climate of Portugal to take on a red hot Sporting CP for the Gunners' 5th match of the champions league campaign.

Can Arsenal capitalize on a solid display at home with one on the road?

Here are five talking points ahead of Tuesday's match:

Know the Enemy

The big storyline for the Portuguese side has been the departure of manager Ruben Amorim for Manchester United at the beginning of November. After developing a reputation as one of the game's best up-and-coming young managers, he left for the vacancy left by Erik Ten Hag (oh, how we shall miss ye) to become the next manager tasked with fixing the mess up in Manchester.

Following his departure, he was replaced by João Pereira. The 40 year old manager played for Sporting CP off and on in the attack, ending his career at the club in 2021 before jumping into coaching, working with their academy and then their senior reserve side before taking over for Amorim as permanent manager. In his first three matches, Sporting has won by a combined goal aggregate of 14-3. Not bad for the new guy.

The other storyline is rise of Viktor Gyökeres. If you don't know the name yet, you will. The Swedish striker has been THE name in the world of striker transfer rumors for many of Europe's top clubs, Arsenal included. After building up a lot of smoke last season, he's set the net on fire at a ridiculous clip this season. Across 16 competitive matches, he has scored 23 times, including 5 in the Champions league, which puts him in the lead for the tournament's Golden Boot. If he wants to just hop on the plane to London with us after the match, that'd be totally cool.

But the club is much more than Gyokeres. They sit atop the Portuguese Premier League having won all 11 matches played so far. They are 2nd in the Champions League table with 3 wins and a draw from 4. They have not lost a competitive match since August. They are scoring goals by the bucketload. They took down Manchester City 4-1 earlier in the month (which, to be fair, is looking less impressive by the day). They are not a team to be taken lightly by any stretch.

Suffice it to say, Arsenal will have their hands full on Tuesday.

Last Time Out

Arsenal's last Champions League match saw them lose a tight one at the San Siro to Inter Milan. The 0-1 scoreline undersold a very solid outing for the Gunners. It was the type of loss that you take on the chin with the knowledge that you were more unfortunate than you were poor, with the loan goal the result of penalty from a caromed ball into the hand of Mikel Merino. The Gunners were without Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice, but still managed to give the hosts a tough run for their money.

But it wasn't that long ago that Arsenal played Sporting, having faced them at the Emirates in the quarterfinals of the Europa League only two seasons ago. That match became one that had tremendous ripple effects for Arsenal's entire season. Both Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba came off with injuries that turned into season-enders. Arsenal gave up a howler of a goal from the halfway line, going on to lose on penalties, enduring yet another season without a European trophy.

I, for one, blame Kim Kardashian.

Injuries & Suspensions

No news, is good news, right?

Following the match on Saturday, there have been no announced additions to the list of injuries. Takehiro Tomiyasu may or may not have slipped into a transdimensional portal and no longer exists. Ben White remains out following knee surgery.

But beyond that, it would appear that the Gunners are, for the most part, healthy.

Please maintain all crossed fingers and continue knocking on wood for the meantime.

Predicted Lineup

Attack: Martinelli, Havertz, Saka

Despite the success of the Trossard-Jesus-Saka line on Saturday, I imagine that lineup was due to the need to rest Martinelli and Havertz, both having played during the international break. Its likely Arteta will return to a more familiar starting front three, though I think nobody played so poorly on Saturday that they wouldn't have earned a start.

Midfield: Rice, Partey, Odegaard

Declan Rice did not see the pitch despite being on the bench against Forest. In a weird way, that's a luxury. Merino played well enough that Rice could be rested for another day after rehabbing a toe injury. Rice has been a stalwart that almost always plays when available, so I don't doubt he starts. If not, Merino slots in as an adept analogue. Partey stays central, and Ødegaard…well, he's Ødegaard. If there's a string, he's the one pulling it.

Defense: Calafiori, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber

This is Arteta's first choice defense going forward. Ben White won't be available until after the new year, so the back 4 needs all the time to gel and get into a rhythm. Arteta's decision to sub both Calafiori and Timber off on Saturday was a smart bit of preservation for key players in an injury-hit position group, and part of a larger swath of subs for first team mainstays that was refreshingly un-Arteta like.

Keeper: Raya. He's the guy.

Make a Statement

In the wake of November's poor returns, one of the running theme across the football media during the break was that Arsenal's bubble had finally begun to burst, and they are now regressing back to a more "acceptable" mean for them after two seasons of over-performance. It's a dumb and lazy take, and one that pundits have in their holsters, ready to draw at the first sign of a misstep.

A win at Sporting on the back of Saturday's assertive showing would be an emphatic statement about who Arsenal are, and who they have largely been for the past two seasons: one of the best clubs in Europe. A draw, even one where Arsenal play well, only adds more fuel to a very tired fire. The Gunners need to take all 3 points and quiet the naysayers.

It was a lot of fun watching Arsenal look like themselves again on Saturday. I still have not lost hope for the league, despite Liverpool's historic point gap. But that's all to be decided as the season marches on. For now, we have bigger, more immediate fish to fry. Arteta has struggled to break teams down away from home in European competitions. Tuesday will be no easy task, either. If the Arsenal we saw on Saturday shows up, though, we could be in for a sight.

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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