Mikel Arteta has no reasons to change the starting lineup in light of two stellar away wins as he takes Arsenal to take on FC Porto.
Arsenal are back in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages after a seven-year hiatus, and Mikel Arteta’s side are looking like the real deal. The Gunners’ boss will have to search hard for a reason to make alterations to his lineup that have won back-to-back away games in a stunning manner when they take on FC Porto on Wednesday.
Arteta’s pre-match press conference barely had any mention of injury-related updates ahead of the trip to Porto. Instead, he focused on talking about the opposition, Portuguese football, Fabio Vieira, and Kai Havertz.
Vieira returns to his old club, 18 months after making the move to Arsenal, while Havertz will have the memories here of scoring the winner in the Champions League final for Chelsea.
On Havertz, Arteta said, “It’s probably the biggest highlight of his career, an incredible moment for him, and Jorgi as well. Regarding his performances, it’s as he’s been for the past three months, he scored a fantastic goal on top of that, so probably bigger than what he’s done in past. But we’re really happy with him.”
Meanwhile, a reporter asked Arteta whether he asked Vieira for any information regarding his old side Porto. The Arsenal boss responded, “He was pushing because he wanted to be here, that’s for sure. Having an insider, someone who has experience, and has lived the culture and the club gives you a lot of information.”
“It’s very important in Europe to understand the context of the game, what type of opponent they are, what type of atmosphere you’re going to be facing and he can give us some really important information.”
In terms of team news, there is not a lot to update other than the fact that Vieira and Thomas Partey were back in training. Arteta mentioned last week that they have had a few training sessions already, so one might assume they could return to the matchday squad.
Key trio, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Takehiro Tomiyasu are still nursing problems and will miss the first-leg clash with Porto. Arteta will have no reasons to make alterations to his starting lineup that beat West Ham and Burnley in consecutive away games, as he aims to make it three in a row.
David Raya will continue between the sticks and will have the same back four ahead of him with Jakub Kiwior retaining his left-back slot. Arteta may have thought about bringing Jorginho in for his experience. But the form of Havertz and Leandro Trossard will make it difficult to justify dropping one of them.
Bukayo Saka will want to keep adding to his impressive numbers in his maiden Champions League season. He will have the company of Gabriel Martinelli in the attack, as Havertz and Trossard will continue to interchange between central midfield and the centre-forward position.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Odegaard, Rice, Trossard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Bring jorg and bench hervet