{"id":982,"date":"2026-04-07T11:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=982"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:42:10","slug":"arsenal-xi-vs-sporting-cp-predicted-lineup-and-team-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=982","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal XI vs Sporting CP \u2013 Predicted lineup and team news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Arsenal travel to Lisbon tonight, aiming to secure a vital away result in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.<br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners have reached this stage as the tournament\u2019s most dominant defensive unit, conceding just 0.5 goals per match in Europe under Mikel Arteta.<\/p>\n<p>They also arrive with a strong record against tonight\u2019s opponents \u2014 unbeaten in seven meetings against Sporting, including a 5-1 win at this very stadium last season.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal have, however, progressed from just three of their last eight quarter-final ties, a reminder that pedigree alone will not be enough tonight.<strong><br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Arsenal team news<br \/><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Arteta heads into the tie with a significant defensive concern. Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es is a major doubt after sustaining a knee injury during the FA Cup exit, with Cristhian Mosquera expected to step in alongside William Saliba at the heart of defence.<\/p>\n<p>There is better news elsewhere, however. Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are both back in contention after being rested at the weekend, while Jurri\u00ebn Timber is also fit to feature after a minor groin issue.<\/p>\n<p>David Raya will start in goal, having prevented more goals than any other goalkeeper in the competition this season. In midfield, Martin Zubimendi and Rice provide the platform for captain Martin \u00d8degaard to influence proceedings further forward.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal, meanwhile, will look to Viktor Gy\u00f6keres to provide the decisive edge. The striker returns to the club where he scored 97 goals and could become the first player to score both for and against Sporting in this competition \u2014 a subplot that adds an intriguing layer to an already compelling tie.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><strong>Arsenal predicted lineup<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Arsenal Predicted XI (4-3-3):<\/strong> Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Saliba, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, \u00d8degaard; Martinelli, Gy\u00f6keres, Saka<\/p>\n<h2><strong>When will the match kick off?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The match is scheduled for an 8pm BST kick-off this Tuesday at the Est\u00e1dio Jos\u00e9 Alvalade.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to watch Sporting vs Arsenal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>UK viewers can watch the match live on Amazon Prime Video from 18:30 BST.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Read more-\u00a0FA Cup Awards: Leeds win West Ham thriller, Classy Cherki<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>See Also-\u00a0FA Cup draw: Leeds to face Chelsea in first semi-final for 39 years<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Follow the Football Faithful on Social Media:<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FootyFaithful\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thefootballfaithfull\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FootyFaithful_\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCUgN0WQEhxRbfTdlbkEG7zQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@thefootballfaithful\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">TikTok<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal travel to Lisbon tonight, aiming to secure a vital away result in their Champions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}