Arsenal travel to Sporting CP in the Champions League stage for matchday 5. The Gunners are tied for tenth with several other clubs on seven points. Sporting is in second place with 10 points. The hosts are one of the surprises of the CL season and will be a much tougher opponent for Arsenal than we thought during the draw.

The Portuguese team has a perfect 11-0 record in the Liga Portugal, scoring 39 goals and conceding only five. They defeated Manchester City 4-1 in early November, although the quality of that victory quickly deteriorated. Former manager Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United a few weeks ago, but Sporting continued without him and recorded three consecutive victories under new manager João Pereira.

Sporting is led by Viktor Gyökeres, who has become one of the top strikers in Europe. He has 16 goals in 11 league matches and 5 in 4 in the CL. His good start to the season supports his impressive campaign last year: 29 goals in 33 games in the league, 5 in 9 in the Europa League. The 26-year-old Swede is likely to ply his trade at one of Europe’s glamor clubs next season – he has been linked with everyone, including Arsenal. Francisco Trincao and Pedro Goncalves complete the attacking trio for Sporting, while Daniel Braganca calls the shots from midfield.

Despite a defensive record that is not as impressive as last season, the Gunners have shown that they are capable of repelling an opposition attack (and we know they can, see all of last season for example). That starts with Martin Ødegaard. He organizes and directs the press, disrupting and stopping opposing attacks before they start. Arsenal must be able to deny Sporting time and space on the ball.

The Gunners have a significant size advantage over the Portuguese side and should be able to use their physicality to dictate the match. There aren’t many clubs in Europe that can match the Gunners in terms of big, strong guys who are also capable on the ball – Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and even Mikel Merino in midfield, Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and yes, Jurrien Timber (which is not the longest but is thick). There is always the possibility that talented, technical players can move the ball faster and play around Arsenal’s size.

But when Arsenal are at their best my money will always go to them because the part I left out is that Arsenal are also fast. I’m not talking about blistering, attacking pace, because Arsenal don’t have much of that apart from Gabriel Martinelli and, to a lesser extent, Bukayo Saka. It is Arsenal’s defensive pace that gives clubs attacks. You simply don’t have the time and space on the ball that you are used to and think you have. Arsenal’s midfielders will be on you in no time and will probably win the game.

I keep coming back to it (although I’m not sure I said it on TSF recently) – think back to April 2023 when Manchester City beat Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad to more or less clinch the Premier League title . It looked like they had more players on the pitch than Arsenal. They were everywhere, especially in midfield. That’s Arsenal now. When Arsenal are at or near full strength, they overwhelm opponents.

The good news is that it looks like the Gunners are heading in that direction again. The first three months of the season were tough for Arsenal: brutal schedule, injuries, bad rebounds, questionable referee decisions, and so on. It masked its quality. Side note: Despite all that, they were still a very good team based on the underlying numbers. But it didn’t quite come together. The comprehensive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest was a glimpse of the real Arsenal (or what we hope is the real Arsenal).

Sporting will prove to be a much tougher test. Arsenal probably need this match more than the hosts given the CL table, but you don’t want to drop any points at home. A result for the Gunners, preferably a win, would go a long way towards claiming one of the coveted top 8 finishing spots. Arsenal’s remaining CL matches are ‘easier’ on paper, so a result would also more or less secure a place in the knockout stages. For Sporting, a win over Arsenal would make it unlikely that they finish outside the top 8.

It’s still difficult to read much into the Champions League stage table and get a good idea of ​​the relative safety/danger facing a particular club given their position, points total and remaining games. It’s annoying. I think you just have to win the games.

In a pleasant turn of events, Arsenal have no new additions to the injury list. Takehiro Tomiyasu is somewhere away from the club, recovering from his endless string of injuries. Ben White’s surgery will rule him out until January. Kieran Tierney was part of Arsenal’s traveling squad, although I don’t expect him to feature.

Sporting will be without wide forward Nuno Santos, who is recovering from a torn patellar tendon. Both defender Zeno Debast and attacker Pedro Goncalves are doubtful due to muscle injuries.

Lineups will be published as soon as they become available.

WHO: Arsenal at Sporting CP
WHAT: Champions League stage, matchday 5
WHEN: Tuesday, November 26, 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST/8:00 PM GMT
WHERE: Jose Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon
HOW TO WATCH: Stream via the Paramount+ app

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