Arsenal will welcome Sporting CP at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday in the second leg of the Europa League last 16 encounter that will decide who advances to the quarterfinals after the first leg that was played last week in Lisbon, Portugal ended in a two-all stalemate.
Both teams come into this match after thrashing their opponents in the domestic league 3-0, with Arsenal finishing off Fulham in the first half and Sporting CP dispatching Boavista with the same scoreline.
The Gunners have now registered five consecutive wins in the Premier League and hope to use the same form continue against Sporting, while Sporting themselves have won four of their last five games in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Arsenal welcomed back striker Gabriel Jesus from injury over the weekend and it is understood he could get his first start in over four months as Eddie Nketiah is still out with an ankle injury.
Mikel Arteta has been rotating his team in Europa League matches so the likes of Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith-Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Matt Turner, and Jorginho who have been starved of Premier League football could get the nod in this fixture knowing that qualification is on the line.
Sporting CP are chasing the first quarter-final place since the 2017/18 season and are expected to field their strongest team against the Premier League leaders.
They will be looking to end a run of them not beating an English side since 2005 when they beat Middlesbrough at Riverside Stadium.
Team news
The Arsenal medical team has done a tremendous job, as all players are available for selection apart from Nketiah (doubted) and long-term absentee Mohammed Elneny.
Sporting CP will miss the services of Hidemasa Morita and Sebastian Coates who picked up yellow cards in the first leg, but will welcome back Manuel Ugarte from a ban.
Daniel Braganca is out, and former Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin is set to miss an anticipated return to The Emirates with a knee injury. Other players are available for selection.
