Viktor Gyökeres back on the scene, Arsenal head to Lisbon

Slowly but surely, the business end of the season is approaching. Most competitions are heading into the home straight, and the Champions League is no exception. The last eight have been decided in Europe's premier club competition, meaning one thing only, the first legs of the quarter-finals are upon us. For Mikel Arteta's men, that means a trip to Lisbon, where a fired-up Sporting side will be lying in wait at the Estádio José Alvalade. The Gunners have plenty to put right after a miserable EFL Cup final defeat before the international break, compounded further by an FA Cup exit in the aftermath of it, form that will have done little to settle nerves in north London. Arsenal head into this fixture as clear favourites, but make no mistake, Sporting will not be handing them anything on a plate. While I do believe Arteta's side have the quality to get the job done on Portuguese soil and return to the Emirates with a first-leg advantage firmly in their back pocket, they will need to be utterly switched on and at their very best to make it count. With all that said, let's get into everything you need to know ahead of Sporting's clash with Arsenal.

Basic information

📅 Date and time	🏟️ Stadium	⚽️ Match	🏆 Competition
7. 4. 2026, 21:00 (CET)	Estadio José Alvalade	Sporting v Arsenal	Champions League (Quarter-finals, 1st leg)

Form

The same applies to the team's form as what I wrote before the weekend match against Southampton.. Yes, Arsenal haven't managed their last two competitive matches and lost both, but the first defeat still came before the international break and the second in an FA Cup match, with a much-changed lineup. Of course, I don't want to excuse the losses in any way, especially the one against Southampton, but I certainly wouldn't make a big deal out of them. The match against Sporting will be telling. The Portuguese team is doing better in terms of numbers from their last five matches, but that won't play a big role on Tuesday evening.

Arsenal

📈 Current form🔴 🔴 🟢 🟢 🟡

⚽️ ResultsSouthampton 2:1 Arsenal (FA Cup), Arsenal 0:2 Manchester City (EFL Cup), Arsenal 2:0 Leverkusen (CL), Arsenal 2:0 Everton (PL), Leverkusen 1:1 Arsenal (CL)

🏆 Premier League position: 1st (70 points)

Sporting Lisbon

📈 Current form: 🟢 🟢 🟢 🔴 🟡

⚽️ ResultsSporting 4:2 Santa Clara (LP), Alverca 1:4 Sporting (LP), Sporting 5:0 Bodø/Glimt (CL), Bodø/Glimt 3:0 Sporting (CL), Braga 2:2 Sporting (LP)

🏆 Position in Liga Portugal: 2nd (68 points)

Team and expected line-up

Based on the lineup that took to the pitch at the weekend in the FA Cup against Southampton, it's already possible to infer that Mikel Arteta saved his strongest players for the match against Sporting. I am convinced that the Spanish manager will field his best team in Portugal. Let's look at the expected lineup together.

Expected line-up

In goal, there will be back David Raya, there is no doubt about that.

Mikel Arteta will have to contend with several absences in the defensive ranks. However, a well-rehearsed pair should start in the centre of defence. William Saliba and Gabriel, despite the Brazilian defender having to make a forced substitution in the Southampton game. Gabriel trained with the team on Monday, so I assume he is fine. On the left side of the defence we should see Riccardo Calafiori, who started on the bench this weekend probably because of the upcoming match against Sporting. On the right side of the defense, the decision will be between the pair of Cristhian Mosquera and Ben White. Personally, I lean towards the option with the Spanish defender, because White has played more than enough in recent days, given his prolonged health problems.

He will definitely start in the defensive midfield position. Martín Zubimendi, who, after health problems, played for a few minutes at the weekend. He should also return to the squad Declan Rice. Who will appear before this pair in the role of game creator? Realistically, I think there are only two options in play. The first, and from my perspective also the more likely, is Martin Ødegaard, the second one then Kai Havertz.

More than a special match, it will be for Viktor Gyökeres, who joined Leandro Trossard and Noni Madueke. The Belgian international is back in full training, so I dare say he will get priority over Gabriel Martinelli. On the other side of the pitch, he would deserve a place in the starting lineup Max Dowman, but that's almost certainly not going to happen. I think Mikel Arteta will be pretty careful with his minutes given his age.

Absences

Five players will almost certainly miss the first match against Sporting. The long-term injured will be absent Mikel Merino, who will be joined on the sick list this time by Eberechi Eze, Jurriën Timber, Piero Hincapié and Bukayo Saka. Neither of these players was seen at Monday's pre-match training, so they are not expected to be part of the squad for the first quarter-final clash between Sporting and Arsenal.

Opponent

🏟️ Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon (capacity 52,095)

👔 Manager: Rui Borges

🧤Goalkeepers: Rui Silva, João Virginia

🛡️ Defenders: Salvador Blopa, Zeno Debast, Ousmane Diomande, Iván Fresneda, Gonçalo Inacio, Ricardo Mangas, Eduardo Quaresma, Romulus, Georgios Vagiannidis

🎯 Midfielders: Daniel Barganca, Pedro Goncalves, Morten Hjulmand, Giorgi Kocharashivli, Hidemasa Morita, João Simões, Trincão

⚽️ Forwards: Maximiliano Araujo, Geny Catamo, Souleymane Faye, Flavio Goncalves, Nel Rafael, Fotis Ioannidis, Geovany Quenda, Nuno Santos, Luis Guilherme, Luis Suarez

🚑 Injuries: Fotis Ioannidis, Geovany Quenda, Nuno Santos, Luis Guilherme

⚠️ Suspensions: Morten Hjulmand

Match

As I announced at the very beginning of the blog, The Gunners will go into the match as favourites despite the fact that it will be played in Lisbon. This is a testament to the strength of Arsenal and what is expected from the game. Will Mikel Arteta's charges be able to fulfil their role and take away a victory from their opponents' soil, as well as a promising result for the return leg? I firmly believe so. Although we will most likely not see a similar result as in their last meeting at Estádio José Alvalade (1:5), I think Arsenal must win in Portugal. I have several reasons. Besides the quality and depth of the squad, which is very respectable even with several absences, I perceive that Mikel Arteta and the players themselves want to show the entire football world after the EFL Cup final loss and subsequent FA Cup exit that it was only a momentary lapse, and that Arsenal must still be reckoned with.

This time so that we could have a crowd-pleasing match. Sporting are considered an offensive team and, given that they will be playing at home, it can be expected that they will try. The outcome of all this could therefore be attacking football from both sides.. This brings me to what could decide the whole match. Paradoxically, in my opinion, this will be defensive. As I mentioned a moment ago, Sporting primarily relies on a strong attack, while Arsenal is particularly characterised by a solid and highly organised defence. In this area, Sporting are definitely not as strong as Arsenal, and that's precisely what I see as the biggest difference between the two sides.. The match will be closely contested, swinging from end to end, but Arsenal will ultimately triumph in Lisbon thanks to their quality and experience. I predict Arsenal to win 2:0.

Next match

Mikel Arteta's men will play their next competitive match at the weekend, specifically on Saturday 11. 4. 2026 at 13:30 (CET), when within the Premier League they will welcome, at the Emirates Stadium, Bournemouth.

See you next time, I'll look forward to it!

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