Sporting Lisbon - Arsenal: Continuing the excitement?

* Sporting Lisbon - Arsenal: 0h45 on Friday, March 10, Hanoi time.

The "Gunners" just won a dramatic 3-2 victory over Bournemouth over the weekend. Lost by two goals, but Thomas Partey and Ben White equalized before Reiss Nelson sealed the victory for Mikel Arteta's teachers and students in the seventh minute of injury time. It was Arsenal's fourth consecutive win in the English Premier League, helping them keep a five-point gap with second-place Man City.

Because Arsenal topped Group A, Arsenal do not have to play in the play-offs, so this will be their first knockout pair in the Europa League. Meanwhile, due to falling from the Champions League, Sporting had to face Midtjylland in the play-off round. But they did not have much trouble defeating the runner-up Denmark with a total score of 5-1 over two matches.

With the race to win the Premier League, the Europa League is no longer a priority for Arsenal like in previous seasons. That means Arteta can rotate the squad during the trip to Estadio Jose Alvalade because three days later, Arsenal must be a guest of Fulham. In 17 days, the "Gunners" had to play six matches, which is not a small challenge for a team that does not have too much depth of force.

According to Arsenal Insider, Arteta will change six starting positions compared to the match against Bournemouth. Specifically, Jorginho will replace Partey or Granit Xhaka in the middle of the field. Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe return and Nelson will be rewarded for scoring the key scorer over the weekend. The other two changes lie in defence, with Gabriel starting at left-back and Polish rookie Jakub Kiwior likely to make his debut after playing quite well in the Under-21 team recently.

"Arsenal have to go through in the European Cup to show ambition. But tomorrow's opponent is not easy to play. The best way to prepare for every tournament is to win the previous match to have confidence and approach the match with The right mentality. If tomorrow Arsenal play well and win, that's a good preparation for the next game, "Arteta said at the pre-match press conference.

However, it is not easy for Arsenal to leave Portugal with a victory, because Sporting is also in good form. They have won the last four matches. The last time Ruben Amorim's teachers and students failed was a 1-2 defeat to Porto on February 13. However, Sporting have not often performed well against strong opponents this season, which leaves them only fourth in the Portuguese championship.

What makes the Portuguese team more confident is that they have achieved good results against another English club this season. Sporting once defeated Tottenham - Arsenal's North London rival - with a score of 2-0 at home in Group D Champions League. Even when marching to England, they opened the scoring first and made Tottenham sweat to win a 1-1 draw.

"It's not impossible to get rid of a team like Arsenal. We need to focus and approach the game in that spirit. Sporting is getting better, starting to keep clean sheets. We can say, we are. "The main goal is to win at home, then we can think about the return leg," Amorim commented.

The home team will be without midfielder Manuel Ugarte because of suspension and Daniel Braganca has not recovered from injury. But those were the only two losses Amorim suffered. Arsenal are short on strikers with Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah all sidelined. The "Gunners" also did not have Mohamed Elneny and Kieran Tierney.